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 sampling of our latest content.
Third time's the charm for Exxon Mobil-InterOil deal
If the Court of Appeal of Yukon's decision in InterOil Corporation v. Mulacek last November came as a shock to Canada's M&A community, the follow-on ruling from the territory's Supreme Court in February – which allowed for the purchase of InterOil Corp. by Exxon Mobil Corp. – could only be described as a surprising aftershock. The decisions called into question long-standing practices regarding fairness opinions in plans of arrangement. In the end, that bar was raised by the Supreme Court of Yukon, which also approved the Exxon Mobil-InterOil plan.
Canadian Dealmakers of 2016
When Lexpert, together with Deloitte, The Globe and Mail and Thomson Reuters, created the Canadian Dealmakers Program in 2007, the driving force was to look beyond the deals that define Canada's capital markets and celebrate the executives, in-house counsel, lawyers and bankers who actually shaped those transactions. The winners were recognized at the annual Canadian Dealmakers gala dinner, which brings together leading decision-makers and advisors from the world of M&A and corporate finance to celebrate the art of the deal. With no further ado, here are this year's winners.
Swiss miss
For law firms with global expansion ambitions, there's a lingering question following on the speedy, vivid collapse of Kingwood & Mallesons' European arm. Does the debacle speak to the inherent advantages or the inherent disadvantages of the Swiss verein, the legal structure of choice for the flood of major international law firm combinations in the past five years? If nothing else, the firm's disintegration offers a cautionary tale to legal entities intent on merging misaligned divisions under the Swiss verein model.
Mining resurgence?
In a stereotype that goes back to the original Gold Rush, it is generally said that business people in the mining sector are optimists; they have to be, given the risks they take on. Recent years have surely tested that optimism, and yet in 2016 and now in first quarter 2017, there are hopeful signs, even murmurings of a resurgence in the market. We asked Canadian lawyers who serve mining company clients to weigh in as to whether this was real or "make-it-so" thinking.
In DealsWire newsletter's Closed Transactions section, we look at the legal teams on two pharmaceutical deals: medical cannabis producer Canopy Growth Corp. acquiring Mettrum Health Corp., as well as Sunovion Pharmaceuticals acquiring Cynapsus Therapeutics.
We also look at the players behind the sale of Enercon Canada's interest in the Niagara Region Wind Farm Project to Boralex. Finally, we give you the legal teams on Maverix Metals acquiring a portfolio of 11 royalties from Gold Fields.
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