Lexpert Magazine

32 LEXPERT MAGAZINE | MARCH/APRIL 2018 LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD William A. Downe, C.M. Immediate and Past Chief Executive Officer, BMO Financial Group William Downe is the winner of this year's Canadian Dealmakers Lifetime Achieve- ment Award. Mr. Downe was CEO of BMO Financial Group from March 2007 until October 31, 2017. He joined the bank in 1983 and held a variety of senior manage- ment positions in Canada and the U.S. In 1999, he was appointed Vice-Chair, Bank of Montreal and in 2001, he was named Dep- uty Chair, BMO Financial Group & Chief Executive Officer, BMO Nesbitt Burns. In 2006, he was appointed Chief Operating Officer of BMO Financial Group. Mr. Downe is lead director of Manpow- erGroup Inc. and a member of their Execu- tive Compensation and Human Resources Committee. He is a member of Rush Sys- tem Board, a member of the Rush Univer- sity Medical Center Board of Trustees, a member of their Development and Com- pensation and Human Resources Com- mittees, and co-chair of the Rush Cam- paign Executive Committee. Mr. Downe is an advisory board member of the Rotman School of Management Martin Prosperity Institute (MPI) at the University of Toron- to, and a member of the Economic Club of Chicago. Mr. Downe also serves on the Ca- nadian Minister of Foreign Affairs' North American Free Trade Agreement Council. Mr. Downe is an honorary director of Catalyst Inc., a past member of their Audit Committee and was Chair of Catalyst's Canadian Advisory Board. He served on the board of the Business Council of Can- ada as well as their Governance and Nomi- nating Committee. Mr. Downe served on the board of the International Monetary Conference (IMC) and was a member of their Nominating Committee. He was Vice-Chair, Business and Finance, on the National Executive Committee of the 2015 Governor General Canadian Lead- ership Conference and is Past President of the Federal Reserve Board's Federal Advi- sory Council. Mr. Downe is a member of the St. Mi- chael's Hospital Foundation Board, a member of its Executive Committee, and past member of the Inspire 2018 Cam- paign Cabinet. He is also a member of the campaign executive for e Campaign for the University of Toronto. Mr. Downe served as Chairman of the 2009 Campaign Cabinet for United Way of Greater Toron- to, and is also past Chair of the Board of Directors of St. Michael's Hospital. Mr. Downe holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wilfrid Laurier University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Toronto, and also received an Honorary Doctor of Laws from the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics at Wilfrid Laurier University. He was recognized in September 2016 by the Woodrow Wilson Center's Canada In- stitute and received the Center's Award for Corporate Citizenship. In October 2017, Mr. Downe was honoured with the Rot- man Lifetime Achievement Award by the University of Toronto. Prior to this, he re- ceived the Rotman Distinguished Business Alumni Award from the Joseph L. Rotman School of Management. Mr. Downe is a Member of the Order of Canada. DEAL TEAM OF THE YEAR Alimentation Couche-Tard Alimentation Couche-Tard's deal team lost no time getting to work in fiscal 2017 (which starts at the end of April) and never let up. On June 28, the company announced it had acquired San Antonio- based CST Brands Inc. for an enterprise value of US$5.27 billion. CST employs over 14,000 people in 2,000 locations throughout the Texas, the US southwest, New York and eastern Canada. e same day, the company disposed of $986 mil- lion of CST's Canadian assets — mainly its dealers' and agents' network, its heat- ing oil business, and its Montréal head office. Couche-Tard also entered into an agreement to sell 70 US company-operat- ed sites to Petroleum Partners LLC, a US Federal Trade Commission requirement for approval. Among other transactions, the deal team also helped orchestrate the acquisition of 53 Louisiana sites that the company operated under the Cracker Barrel brand, including 11 quick-service restaurants. It became the general partner of CrossAmerica Partners LP, which supplies road transportation fuel to more than 700 stores, with 100 per cent of its Incentive Rights for a 20.5-per-cent equity investment. It doesn't stop there. In 2017, the com- pany also agreed to acquire all the issued and outstanding shares of Holiday Station- stores Inc. and certain affiliated companies, which operate 374 corporate stores and 148 franchise stores in the US Midwest and Alaska. In November, it announced it was selling Statoil Fuel & Retail Marine AS, an Oslo-based operator of gasoline stations with convenience stores, to St1 Nordic Oy of Finland, a privately owned energy group. Couche-Tard also acquired two company-operated stores through two different transactions, and completed the | CANADIAN DEALMAKERS AWARDS |

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