Lexpert Roundup on the Business of Law
Lexpert identifies and reports on emerging business issues and practice areas in the business of law. Whether online, in our magazine or in the DealsWire e-newsletter, we chronicle deals and lawsuits of interest, and cover issues of broad concern to the legal profession and those who purchase legal services. We hope you enjoy this sample of our latest content.
From the DealsWire: MTY buys Kahala restaurants, Athabasca-Murphy joint venture
The Lexpert DealsWire (subscribe here) documents facts, figures and key legal players behind recent deals. This week's announced deal spotlight features the key players and figures in MTY Food Group's acquisition of Arizona-based Kahala Brands from the Serruya family.
In our closed deals section, we look at Athabasca Oil's joint venture with Arkansas-based Murphy Oil, as well as engineering firm Stantec purchasing MWH Global for $1.025-billion.
We also look at the players behind the sale of Paramount Resources' sour gas processing assets to Pembina Pipeline. Finally, we give you the legal teams on the combination of Newell Rubbermaid and Jarden.
Energy storage industry sees rapid growth
French oil and gas company Total S.A.'s announcement in early May that it would spend about $1.1-billion (U.S.) to acquire Saft Groupe S.A. may signal a new era of opportunity in the energy storage market. "Energy storage has been the thing that's coming for a long time, but it's here now," says Thomas Timmins of Gowling WLG in Toronto. "Existing technologies are achieving scale, the price is dropping regularly – much more quickly than expected – and new technology is evolving rapidly."
Q&A: Financial Readiness
In North America, New Flyer Industries is the biggest builder of city buses; Motor Coach International is the biggest builder of highway buses. The two seemed a perfect match, with separate businesses dovetailing without much of any overlap. So what was the holdup? Financing. Lexpert interviews lawyers on the deal.
Graphic: M&A Cross-Pollination
A 10-year analysis of Canadian M&A deals (over $50-million) shows which sectors are most likely to "cross-pollinate" by acquiring assets and entities in other sectors. Whereas finance and private-equity players are represented across the gamut, energy and real estate entities most often merge homogeneously. Deal makers in the high-tech, media and telecom categories also intermingle.
On Board with Diversity
In many countries there is a push to achieve gender parity on the boards of publicly traded companies. A 2015 survey for the Canadian Board Diversity Council reveals that although more women than ever are serving on boards, they presently hold only 19.5 per cent of FP500 board seats. But how to achieve this result is hotly debated and in some cases, controversial. Should this parity be achieved through a disclosure approach or through a legislated change that features a quota system?
Lexpert publishes 2016 Corporate special edition in Globe and Mail's Report on Business
Lexpert published its Corporate special edition in the June edition of The Globe and Mail's Report on Business magazine on May 27. The Lexpert Special Edition on Canada's Leading Corporate Lawyers profiles selected Lexpert-ranked lawyers whose focus is in Corporate law and relevant practices. It also features articles on the following topics:
Energy Insolvencies: Distressed M&A deals are rising in the Canadian oil patch. That's not entirely a bad thing.
Managing Data: Senior business executives increasingly need a deeper understanding of data management. Relying on the IT department is no longer good enough.
Innovation in a Downturn: New approaches and very different types of deals are required in a challenging deals landscape.
The New Regime: The Canadian Securities Administrators' amendments to the Canadian take-over bid regime will dramatically alter contested transactions.
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