Canada's 2014 Leading Corporate Lawyers RETAIL | 23
Leclerc, Philippe
McCarthy Tétrault LLP
(418) 521-3011
pleclerc@mccarthy.ca
Mr. Leclerc practises
commercial, corporate
and securities law. He acts
for reporting issuers and
his experience embraces
IPOs, acquisitions, take-
overs, equity and debt
fi nancing, and project
fi nance for electricity and
infrastructure projects.
Leopold, John W.
Stikeman Elliott LLP
(514) 397-3111
jleopold@stikeman.com
Mr. Leopold is a corporate
partner and Co-chair of the
M&A group. Specializes
in commercial, M&A and
corporate fi nance. Acts
for private-equity funds
and public and private
companies with a focus on
cross-border transactions.
Levin, Jon
Fasken Martineau
DuMoulin LLP
(416) 865-4401
jlevin@fasken.com
Mr. Levin, one of Canada's
leading business lawyers, is
highly rated by Chambers,
International Financial
Law Review, Euromoney,
Who's Who Legal, Lexpert®
and Best Lawyers, and is
named as one of Canada's
top 30 dealmakers and
leading 500 lawyers.
Lee, Desmond
Osler, Hoskin &
Harcourt LLP
(416) 862-5945
dlee@osler.com
Mr. Lee's corporate
and securities practice
emphasizes securities
off erings, investment
dealer regulation
and public company
issues. He has extensive
experience representing
entrepreneurial businesses
and under writers on
public off erings.
Lever, David A.N.
McCarthy Tétrault LLP
(416) 601-7655
dlever@mccarthy.ca
Mr. Lever leads the fi rm's
Infrastructure and Power
Groups. He focuses on
project fi nance, corporate
fi nance and M&A in the
energy and infrastructure
sectors. He has acted
for developers, investors
and lenders on a wide
range of projects.
Lloyd, Jeff rey R.
Blake, Cassels &
Graydon LLP
(416) 863-5848
jeff .lloyd@blakes.com
Mr. Lloyd's practice focuses
on M&A, capital markets
and public company
advisor y matters. Has
extensive experience
in public and private
M&A transactions
& securities off erings,
and in advising public
companies on governance
& securities law matters.
investment trust that holds Sobeys' real
property. Crombie completed a public
off ering of trust units and convertible
debentures and used the proceeds of the
off ering to purchase from Sobeys a num-
ber of Safeway store locations, thereby
providing Sobeys with a portion of the
purchase price for its acquisition of Can-
ada Safeway. In that transaction, a strong
REIT fi nancing market was important to
the fi nancing of the acquisition."
e Future
Looking ahead, Lloyd says we may also
see more sale-leaseback transactions by re-
tailers, such as the recent sale by Hudson's
Bay Company of its Queen Street store
in Toronto to Cadillac Fairview. " ese
types of transactions, in which a store op-
erator sells real estate to a third party and
continues to occupy it under a lease, can
enable retailers to realize on the value of
their real estate holdings and redeploy the
sale proceeds in their operations," he says.
Still, there are other factors at play,
especially in the US, that may have an
impact in Canada. Mercier suggests the
role of "activist investors" in infl uencing
potential mergers and acquisitions as a
growing trend that's well worth watch-
ing. " ese investors have very defi nite
opinions as to what they believe com-
panies should be doing strategically and
are prepared to take
an active role to make
that happen," he says.
As an example in the
retail space, in the US
"consider the situa-
tion with the recently
announced merger
involving men's ap-
parel retailers Men's
Wearhouse and Jos. A.
Bank Clothiers where
Eminence Capital was
very vocal about its de-
sire for this merger to
occur, going so far as
to launch legal action
against Jos. A. Bank
to prevent the board
from pursuing other
acquisitions," he says.
"Activist investors are
something that's going
to continue to impact
M&A, including in Canada."
As to strategic transactions, another
area to watch is those companies with
good online presence. "It's diffi cult to
predict what will happen in 2014 on the
strategic side, but look for more retail
M&A activity where boosting the on-
line merchandising presence is a strategic
component," says Mercier. As an example,
he points to the $430-million proposed
acquisition in February 2014 of Vancou-
ver-based Coastal.com, an online retailer
of eyewear, by Essilor International, a
global manufacturer of glasses and con-
tact lenses.
Bev Cline is a eelance business and legal-aff airs
writer and editor in Toronto.
"[THE YEAR] 2013 MAY WELL
HAVE BEEN AN OUTLIER YEAR.
IF YOU COMBINE THE SOBEYS/
SAFEWAY, LOBLAW/SHOPPERS AND
THE HUDSON'S BAY/SAKS DEALS,
THOSE THREE BUCKETS TOGETHER
ACCOUNTED FOR SIGNIFICANT
VOLUME OF THE M&A ACTIVITY
IN THE RETAIL SECTOR IN 2013.
LOOKING FORWARD, THERE'S
A SHRINKING POOL OF LARGE
CANADIAN-OWNED RETAILERS LEFT
AND THAT FACT ALONE IS GOING TO
PUT A CEILING ON DEAL VOLUMES."
– Douglas Bryce, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP
