18 LEXPERT MAGAZINE
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MARCH/APRIL 2018
BIG DEALS
to acquire mineral exploration opportunities
where Orla's exploration and development
expertise and corporate share structure could
substantially enhance shareholder value.
Goldcorp is a senior gold producer focused
on responsible mining practices with safe,
low-cost production from a high-quality
portfolio of mines.
Orla was represented by Goodmans LLP
with a team that included Kari MacKay,
Grant McGlaughlin, David Coll-Black and
Alex Ginther (corporate/mining) and Alan
Bowman (tax); and in Mexico by Mauricio
Herias of VHG Servicios Legales S.C.
Goldcorp was represented internally
by Randall Chatwin, Vice President, As-
sistant General Counsel, Andrew Spen-
cer, Legal Counsel, Abel Martinez, Legal,
Goldcorp Mexico, and Alejandro Guevara,
Legal, Goldcorp Mexico. Cassels Brock &
Blackwell LLP acted as external counsel
to Goldcorp with a team that included Dar-
rell Podowski, John Christian and Stefanie
Sebanc (securities/mining/M&A); and in
Mexico by Todd y Asociados, S.C. with
a team that included Fernando Todd Dip,
Jorge García Díaz and Jesús Bueno Cardona.
Oil & Gas Oil & Gas
CENTRICA PLC COMPLETES
SALE OF ITS CANADIAN
E&P BUSINESS
CLOSING DATE: SEPTEMBER 29, 2017
On September 29, 2017, Centrica plc (Cen-
trica) and a certain state-owned enterprise
(SOE) completed the $722-million disposi-
tion of its majority-owned Canadian oil and
gas exploration and production business by
way of sale of 100 per cent of the partnership
interests of CQ Energy Canada Partnership.
CQ Energy Canada Partnership was a part-
nership between Direct Energy Resources
Partnership (60 per cent) and an undisclosed
body corporate (40 per cent). e purchaser
was Canlin Energy Corporation (Canlin), a
consortium of two Hong Kong-based com-
panies MIE Holdings Corp., Can-China
Global Resource Fund, and Geneva-based
Mercuria Energy Group.
Centrica was represented by a legal team
led by Lisa McDowell, Vice President Legal,
Centrica Energ y Canada, with assistance
from Stikeman Elliott LLP. e Stike-
man Elliott team included Fred Erickson,
Kurtis Reed, Chris Nixon, Chrysten Perry,
Edie Gillespie and Brandon Leitch (energ y
M&A), Julie D'Avignon and Kevin Guen-
ther (tax), Geoffrey Holub and David Price
(litigation), Allison Sears (energ y regula-
tory), Gary Clarke, Kris Noonan, Cheryl
Rea and Natasha VandenHoven (employ-
ment) and Michael Kilby (competition &
foreign investment).
e SOE was represented by Wayne Fe-
dun, Ryan Keays (energy M&A), Dion
Legge (tax), Rujuta Patel (competition) and
Bernette Ho (employment) of Norton Rose
Fulbright Canada LLP.
Canlin was represented by Toby Allan,
Courtney Burton, Byron Reynolds, Kim
Martyn (energy M&A), Barry Zalmanow-
itz (competition), Sandy Walker (foreign in-
vestment), Dan Collins and Matthew Potts
(energy regulatory), and Barbara Johnston
and April Kosten (employment) of Dentons
Canada LLP.
Canlin entered into a syndicated credit
agreement providing for certain credit facili-
ties in order to fund the transaction and was
represented by Cameron Hughes (corporate)
and Peter Birkness and Audrey Bouffard-
Nesbitt (financial services) of McCarthy
Tétrault LLP.
BV INVESTMENT PARTNERS
COMPLETES STRATEGIC
INVESTMENT IN
PRECISION NUTRITION
CLOSING DATE: NOVEMBER 14, 2017
On November 14, 2017, BV Investment
Partners (BV), a middle-market private eq-
uity firm focused on the business services,
soware and IT services sectors, completed
a strategic investment in Ontario-based Pre-
cision Nutrition (PN), the leading nutrition
certification and coaching soware and ser-
vices provider in North America.
BV was represented in the U.S. by Johan
Brigham, Nate Amory and Elizabeth Mims
of Latham & Watkins LLP; and in Cana-
da by Mario Nigro, Cheryl De Los Santos,
and Sabrina Gismondi with a team that in-
cluded Luc Bernier and Adam Drori (Tax),
Justin Parappally, Kristina Vranjkovic and
Martyna Wolska (Banking), Nancy Ram-
alho (Employment), Natasha vandenHoven
(Pension/Benefits), Jonathan Auerbach (IP),
David Elder (Data Privacy) and Michael Las-
key and Gideon Kwinter (Competition) of
Stikeman Elliott LLP.
PN was represented by Matthew Cock-
burn, Ryan Unruch, Crystal Chung, Sharon
Au, Mitchell Dost and Hailey Tweyman
(M&A), Molly Reynolds (Data Privacy), Ed
Fan (IP) and Saira Bhojani (Tax) of Torys
LLP, and Brandon Wiener (Tax) of or-
steinssons LLP.
CANOPY GROWTH
ESTABLISHES NEW
COLLABORATION WITH GREEN
HOUSE AND ORGANA BRANDS
CLOSING DATE: DECEMBER 1, 2017
On December 1, 2017, Canopy Growth
Corp. (Canopy Growth), Green House
Holdings North America Inc. (Green
House) and its affiliate in the Netherlands,
GHSC Trading B.V., National Concessions
Group Inc. (Organa Brands) entered into a
collaborative joint venture. Together, these
three companies comprise the most success-
ful global cannabis businesses.
To establish the joint venture, Canopy
Growth allocated a portion of ownership in
Agripharm Corp., a 20,000 square foot in-
door growing facility located in Ontario, to
its new partners. Canopy Growth retained
40-per-cent ownership of Agripharm, while
Green House and Organa Brands own 40
per cent and 20 per cent, respectively.
e venture will create a new Canadian
home base for Green House Seeds and Or-
gana Brands while Canopy Growth has the
right, subject to limited exceptions, to pur-
chase all the cannabis products produced by
Agripharm for distribution through its Ca-
nadian system.
Although Agripharm is focused on the
Canadian market, Canopy Growth, Green
House, Organa Brands and their respective
affiliates have entered into an agreement to
also explore other federally-legal internation-
al opportunities as they arise, including with
respect to medical research and development
opportunities, product distribution plat-
forms, and brick-and-mortar retail locations.
Canopy Rivers Corp. (Canopy Rivers), a
partly-owned subsidiary of Canopy Growth,
also entered into an agreement to provide
the joint venture with up to $20 million in
