WWW.LEXPERT.CA
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2018
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LEXPERT 27
Orr, William K. Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP
(416) 865-4360 worr@fasken.com
Mr. Orr focuses his practice on corporate governance in acting for boards
of directors and independent committees of boards. He is recognized in
Canadian and international directories for expertise in public & private
financings, private placements, take-over bids, M&A, going-private
transactions, corporate governance, restructurings, and stock exchange
and securities enforcement issues.
O'Neill, Brendan Goodmans LLP
(416) 849-6017 boneill@goodmans.ca
Mr. O'Neill focuses on cross-border and transnational insolvencies and
restructurings, bankruptcy-based acquisitions and near-insolvency investing
scenarios. He represents debtors, creditors, committees, noteholders and
other stakeholders. Recent mandates include Lone Pine Resources, Pacific
Exploration, Lightstream Resources, Banro Corporation, Tervita, Concordia
and Carillion, among others.
Nordick, D'Arcy Stikeman Elliott LLP
(416) 869-5508 dnordick@stikeman.com
Mr. Nordick is a partner and Co-Head of the Capital Markets/Public M&A
Group in Toronto. He advises both foreign and domestic clients in various
industries on business law matters including public and private M&A,
corporate finance, securities, corporate governance, financial products,
licensing and joint ventures, project development, restructuring and general
corporate and commercial law.
Nixon, Christopher W. Stikeman Elliott LLP
(403) 266-9017 cnixon@stikeman.com
Mr. Nixon's practice focuses on business law, with an emphasis on
cross-border and domestic M&A, corporate finance, JVs, corporate and
trust reorganizations and corporate governance. His practice involves
transactional and advisory assignments, representing, among others,
oil & gas exploration and oilfield service entities, investment funds
and investment dealers in Canada, US, Europe and Asia.
Newby, Bradley A. Farris, Vaughan, Wills & Murphy LLP
(604) 661-9308 bnewby@farris.com
Partner Mr. Newby's practice focuses on corporate commercial, mergers
& acquisitions, corporate finance & securities, and corporate governance law.
He has experience advising corporations, private equity firms, professional
managers and entrepreneurs on a wide range of complex business
transactions.
Mondrow, Ian A. Gowling WLG
(416) 369-4670 ian.mondrow@gowlingwlg.com
Mr. Mondrow practises natural gas and electricity regulation and policy law.
He represents utilities, customers and energy services providers in rate,
policy, facilities, licencing and compliance matters, in both wholesale
and retail energy markets.
LEXPERT-RANKED LAWYERS
est — but they can't have both their cake and eat it
too," he says.
e decision to "staple the shares and warrants
together," says Hong, "was designed to encour-
age more retail investors to invest and discourage
hedge fund investors [who] have been perceived to
be a source of a lot of redemptions."
Another initiative to counter the redemption
concern emerged with two of the earliest SPACs,
Alignvest Acquisition Corp. and Gibraltar Growth
Corp., both of which achieved successful qualify-
ing acquisitions. "Alignvest was accompanied by
a very sizable commitment, in excess of $100 mil-
lion, from its SPAC backers," says Emanoilidis, "to
address the redemption risk and to increase the
likelihood that the SPAC will close. In a similar
fashion, Gibraltar had raised in standalone financ-
ing, an amount, part of which came from manage-
ment founders, for the same purpose — to increase
the likelihood the SPAC will close."
ere have been 11 SPACs since 2015, of which
"four have completed an acquisition, three have
completed an IPO and are looking for an acquisi-
tion, two have failed and two have deferred," says
Pincus, who has been involved in seven of the
transactions, but neither of the failures. He notes
that Canada's track record is not dissimilar to
that of the US. "eir market has been active for a
couple of decades and there have been several hun-
dred SPACs created. About two-thirds successfully
completed their qualifying acquisitions, which is
about the same as we've had here."
Although Pincus says the Canadian SPAC
market is "in its initial stages and what we've seen
are waves [and] a limited amount of demand," he
believes that if potential sponsor groups define
their objectives clearly, "a SPAC can be a very
successful vehicle."
Emanoilidis agrees that "it's the early days" but
sees encouragement in "a movement to some niche
sectors." He cites, as an example, the Cannabis
Strategies Acquisition Corp., which in December
2017 completed an IPO of US$125 million to
purchase one or more companies in the cannabis
sector. "If you look at SPACs in the US, they have
had mixed success," he says, "but they've survived.
I think SPACs will continue to play a role in Can-
ada, too."
Patricia Olasker, a partner in Davies Ward Phil-
lips & Vineberg LLP's Securities and M&A prac-
tices, also has a measured outlook for what lies
ahead. "e future for SPACs remains to be seen,"
she says. "It will depend on the ability of the second
generation of SPACs brought to market last year to
complete attractive acquisitions. at said, SPACs
provide a useful alternative structure — albeit of-
ten a 'last resort' alternative — for sellers. I expect
SPACs to continue to evolve and fill a niche in the
Canadian capital markets landscape."
