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: BCE snags Manitoba Tel, Juniper buys BTI
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 BCE's $3.1-billion acquisition of Manitoba Telecom Services.
In our closed deals section, we look at Endeavour Mining's acquisition of True Gold Mining, as well as the sale of Ottawa-based BTI Systems to Juniper Networks.
We also look at the players behind SNC-Lavalin selling its interest in Malta International Airport. Finally, we give you the legal teams on Alltech buying Ontario-based Masterfeeds from Ag Processing.
Premium prerequisite
Pension funds have exhibited a voracious appetite for assisted-living investments as of late. How voracious? In December, BayBridge Seniors Housing Inc., owned by the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, agreed to pay $18.75 per share for Amica Mature Lifestyles Inc. – 113 per cent more than the stock's trading value. Lexpert asked lawyers on the deal why the enormous premiums was warranted.
Graphic: Does market turbulence affect deal timing?
In 2008 and 2009, M&A transactions over $50-million (U.S.) took on average 70 days to close after announcement. As this month's "On the Trend" infographic shows, however, the financial crash led to quicker deals as loan covenants came close to breaching.
Bell/MTS presents complex options for regulators
BCE Inc.'s peremptory announcement that it will sell about one-third of MTS's and Bell's Manitoba wireless subscribers to Telus Corp. if the company's proposed $3.9-billion acquisition of Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. goes through has masked some of the regulatory complexities surrounding the deal. "It's going to be interesting to see how the horse trading that has characterized the sector will play out in this deal," says Stephen Zolf of Aird & Berlis LLP in Toronto.
Life Sciences Grow Up
Much of the promise in the life-sciences sector is landing in biologics, which are drugs extracted from or synthesized at least in part from biological sources. Biologics have become a significant driver in the evolution of the industry and the law around it – and at a pace that is keeping stakeholders and lawyers busy and guessing. "The rise of biologics and biosimilars in life sciences is a trend that has fostered both competition and restructuring in the industry, often through M&A activity," says Cheryl Satin of Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP in Toronto.
Using data to select external counsel
It's becoming harder and harder for legal departments and law firms to ignore the useful data that modern technology can extract from the outputs that everyday operations provide. TD Bank Group, for example, has found that data metrics – the science of uncovering hidden patterns from raw data – can play a significant role in choosing panels of approved law firms.
Closing the gap
Despite the introduction of five different innovation awards for law department management in recent years, there is little pressure and even less appetite to change, writes Richard Stock in this month's Law Departments column. In-house lawyers looking to drive innovation, however, do have one new and unexpected ally: external counsel.
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