Lexpert magazine features articles and columns on developments in legal practice management, deals and lawsuits of interest in Canada, the law and business issues of interest to legal professionals and businesses that purchase legal services.
Issue link: https://digital.carswellmedia.com/i/641619
38 LEXPERT MAGAZINE | MARCH 2016 Magna had been in talks off and on for sev- eral years. Among other transactions, in Febru- ary Magna sold its Austrian-based Magna Steyr's battery pack business to South Ko- rea's Samsung SDI Co. e division makes rechargeable batteries for German auto- maker BMW's i3 electric cars. In July – around the same time as the giant GETR AG purchase – Magna sold Magna Interiors to Spanish car part-mak- er Grupo Antolin for roughly US$525 million, as part of a narrowing of its prod- uct offerings. In October, the Canadian company an- nounced it was acquiring Stadco Automo- tive Ltd., a UK-based company that sup- plies stamped bodies for automakers such as Jaguar Land Rover, Ford Motor Co. and General Motors. Stadco employs 1,400 people at four plants in the United King- dom and one in Germany. e deal team isn't likely to see a slower pace in 2016, with Magna Chief Financial Officer Vince Galifi telling investors at the start of the year the company expects to continue to pursue M&A opportunities. 2015 FOREIGN OUTBOUND ( GLOBAL ) DEAL OF THE YEAR Linamar Corp. acquires Montupet S.A. for US$975 million When Canada's Linamar Corp. submitted a US$975-million friendly bid for France's Montupet S.A., it was a big step in realiz- ing its strategy of becoming a world leader in the manufacture of aluminum compo- nents for the auto sector. Montupet, based in Clichy in the out- skirts of Paris, is an expert in the design and casting of aluminum cylinder heads while Linamar is an expert in machining them, having produced seven million units in 2014. Having teams from the two compa- nies working collaboratively will help drive the development of better product designs aimed at cutting weight, improving fuel efficiency and lowering emissions in new vehicles, Linamar says. e deal came about at a time Montu- pet's management, which owned around 37 per cent of the French company, was reported to be looking for a tie-up with an existing industry player as a way to expand into China. Linamar, based in Guelph, Ont., has sales and production facilities in North America and Europe as well as in Asia, including manufacturing plants in China. Analysts said the tie-up with Montupet will help Linamar compete with larger ri- vals such as Germany's ZF Friedrichshafen AG, which became the world's second- largest automotive supplier by sales when it took over TRW Automotive Holdings Corp. in 2014. Linamar boosted its own international footprint around the same time with a majority stake in Germany's auto-parts supplier Seissenschmidt AG. 2015 MEDIA AND TELECOM DEAL OF THE YEAR Rogers Communications Inc. acquires Mobilicity for $440 million Mobilicity, a small Ontario-based wire- less carrier, had one valuable asset when it put itself under court protection in 2013: the spectrum it purchased at auction in 2008. e airwaves, used to build cellular networks, attracted the attention of Rog- ers Communications Inc. and Telus Corp., Canada's No. 1 and 2 wireless providers. Telus twice tried to purchase the cash- strapped carrier only to be blocked by the federal government, which said the pro- posed deal would have consolidated too much wireless infrastructure in the hands of too few players. When Rogers, Canada's largest mo- bile operator, announced the acquisition in June, it said Industry Canada and the court-appointed monitor overseeing Mo- bilicity's restructuring had both already approved the deal. e difference? Rogers agreed to sell some of Mobilicity's spec- trum to other smaller rivals in a complex arrangement designed to address regula- tors' concerns about concentration of own- ership lessening competition. It swapped Mobilicity's AWS-1 spec- trum in southern Ontario with Wind Mo- bile for some of Wind's spectrum. Rogers also said it was executing an option to buy airwaves from Calgary-based Shaw Com- munications Inc., keeping some in key markets but selling the remainder to Wind. All told, Rogers transferred 16 spectrum licences from Shaw and 10 licences from Mobilicity to Wind. Rogers said the acquisition means faster speeds and better quality for its customers | 2015 DEALMAKERS |