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Mario Nigro, a long-time mergers and acquisitions lawyer with Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, has joined Stikeman Elliott LLP, as partner in the M&A and private equity group.
"He literally started this morning. His office – It looks like he's been here for 10 years already. He's got his espresso machine going and he's just raring to go," said Jay Kellerman, partner with Stikeman Elliott in a telephone interview.
Mr. Nigro, who joined Blakes as an articling law student, helped build up a roster of high profile U.S. private equity clients including Sun Capital Partners Inc. over the past 16 years. Last year, he advised Clearview Capital LLC in its deal to take Novik Inc. private.
'Here comes a guy who is a hustler, who has a developed practice, a significant following of private equity players, and as good as we are in the private equity space he had relationships that we didn't have." said Mr. Kellerman.
While the decision to leave Blakes wasn't easy for Mr. Nigro, he was full of praise for his new firm.
"Stikeman Elliott has the number one brand in private equity in Canada," said Mr. Nigro. "Last year they were number one in terms of the number of deals. I was competing against them. They've traditionally been at the top, or near the top, year in and year out," he added in a phone interview.
Mr. Nigro expects that cross-border interest from private funds will continue to grow.
"We're seeing more and more foreign private equity firms getting involved in Canada, particularly mid-market, U.S. private equity firms. They're becoming very active players," he said.
Niall McGee