Restructuring & Insolvency

• Lightstream - Counsel to Lightstream Resources Ltd. in CCAA proceedings and successful defence of an attempt by certain holders of unsecured bonds to have their unsecured claims recognized as secured claims based on allegations of oppression, breach of contract and misrepresentation by utilizing a novel procedure for determination of certain threshold issues.
  
• U.S. Steel Canada - Counsel to United States Steel Corporation (USS) in the CCAA proceedings of U.S. Steel Canada Inc., one of the largest and most complicated steel manufacturer insolvencies in Canadian history. Successful at trial and at the Ontario Court of Appeal in disputing allegations of “equitable subordination” and maintaining secured and unsecured claims of USS, in the aggregate amount of more than C$2-billion.
  
• Sears Canada - Counsel to a significant group of unsecured creditors and prominent inventory suppliers holding millions of dollars of claims in the Sears Canada CCAA proceedings. The Sears Canada Group was one of Canada’s largest multi-format retailers that employed approximately 17,000 people at 225 stores across Canada prior to its CCAA proceedings.
  
• Toys “R” Us Canada - Counsel to the DIP agent in connection with the US$2.3-billion DIP facility to Toys “R” Us Canada and its U.S. parent. In this complex cross-border proceeding, Toys “R” Us Canada, the largest dedicated toy and baby products retailer in Canada, filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 in the U.S. along with its larger corporate family. It also separately filed under the CCAA in Canada.
  
• Express Canada - Counsel to the court-appointed monitor of Express Canada in the orderly wind-down of its Canadian business. With the assistance of the monitor, Express Canada negotiated a successful plan with its landlords, which paid all other unsecured creditors in full.
  
• Target Canada - Counsel to the largest group of suppliers to Target Canada in its CCAA proceedings. Blakes lawyers served on a court-appointed Consultative Committee formed of senior practitioners who represented key stakeholders in the case. With the support of the Consultative Committee, Target Canada entities ultimately submitted a plan that received the unanimous support of creditors.
  
• Sanjel Group - Canadian counsel to the lending syndicate in the cross-border (CCAA/Chapter 15) restructuring proceedings of the Sanjel Group, a privately owned oilfield services group. Successful negotiations between the parties resulted in the sale of two key business units of the debtor within four weeks of the initial CCAA order over objections from subordinate creditors in both the Canadian and U.S. proceedings.
  
• Nortel Networks - Counsel to U.K. pension claimants in successfully obtaining a landmark “modified pro rata” allocation of US$7.3-billion raised from the sale of the Nortel Networks global business units and patent portfolio.
  
• Cliffs Natural Resources - Counsel to Bloom Lake Group and Wabush Group (iron ore) in their restructuring proceedings under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA). Prior to being idled, the Bloom Lake Mine located in Quebec, which was majority-owned by the Bloom Lake Group, was the fifth-largest iron ore exporting basin in the world. The Bloom Lake Mine, the Wabush/Scully Mine in Newfoundland and a port facility in Quebec were successfully sold in 2016 and 2017, completing the exit of Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. from the Canadian iron ore market.

Our members are consistently recognized by clients and peers as leaders in restructuring and insolvency law in the most recent editions of such leading publications and awards as:

• Chambers Global: The World's Leading Lawyers for Business
• IFLR1000: The Guide to the World's Leading Financial Law Firms
• The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory
• The Lexpert/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada
• The Lexpert Guide to the Leading US/Canada Cross-border Corporate Lawyers in Canada
• The Lexpert Guide to the Leading US/Canada Cross-border Litigation Lawyers in Canada
• Who's Who Legal
• Who's Who Legal: Insolvency & Restructuring
• Who’s Who Legal: Canada
• Legal Media Group's Guide to the World's Leading Lawyers in Banking, Finance and Transactional Law (Insolvency and Restructuring)
• Legal Media Group’s Guide to the World’s Leading Women in Business Law
• Benchmark Canada: The Definitive Guide to Canada's Leading Litigation Firms and Attorneys
• The Best Lawyers in Canada
• The Legal 500 Canada