Each year, Caldwell Partners International chooses 40 Canadians who were under 40 in the past year to honour for their outstanding achievements. Click here to learn more about the program, and find more winners in the list below.
Despite the fact that Nicholas Johnson has spent 14 years in the energy sector and his department has executed more than 320 deals exceeding $30-billion of capital raised since 2006, he laughs off the notion that he has oil and gas in his blood. “I don't see myself as an oil-and-gas person,” says Mr. Johnson, an Edmonton native who graduated in 1993 with a bachelor of commerce from University of Alberta.
“I'm a finance person. I do mergers and acquisitions and I understand the oil and gas business. But to compare me to someone out in the field, drilling wells, that's different.”
Mr. Johnson fell into the energy patch when he moved to Calgary and a friend put him on to the then-fledgling company. In 1997, he was hired as its first analyst, a job that entailed 70-80 hour weeks, and worked his way up the ladder to become managing director in 2006.
In the meantime, the industry grew, too, as crude oil prices moved inexorably upwards. “I've seen a number of cycles,” says Mr. Johnson. “And I've watched this firm grow through many cycles.”
FirstEnergy is a Canadian energy sector underwriter and employs 140 people.
“The thrill in this business is helping clients build their companies,” says Mr. Johnson, adding that, besides arranging financings in Canada, his team has executed M&A deals for companies with assets in North Africa, Australia and South America.
Currently, his 13-person department handles six to eight deals at a time. They vary in complexity and size, with some projects as small as under $10-million, and others over $500-million.
“Today is the busiest that I've seen at FirstEnergy,” says Mr. Johnson. “Be it domestic financing, international financing, domestic M&A, international M&A or property business, our staff is as big as it's ever been.”
Despite the hectic pace, Mr. Johnson continues to thrive. “I have great partners, and have had great mentors throughout the years,” says Mr. Johnson, who offsets the workplace demands by taking his wife and two children to a family retreat in the Okanagan and being active on the United Way's children and youth investment committee.
“It's a tough business. You work long hours. If it wasn't for the people, this job wouldn't be enjoyable.”
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