Justin Drake, Toronto

About Justin

Justin has a transactional-focused practice in our corporate department, concentrating on mergers and acquisitions and strategic investments. Justin also acts as corporate counsel to many clients, providing advice on matters such as corporate governance and equity compensation. He works on a broad range of matters by type, size and industry focus. Clients appreciate his practical and business minded approach to managing transactions and navigating critical issues.

He has particular expertise in strategic transactions between large entities and early-stage technology companies.

Justin is adept in advising clients through competitive situations.

Select Experience

Recent representative transactions include advising:

Mergers & Acquisitions

Mackenzie Financial Corporation in connection with its joint venture with Great-West Lifeco Inc. and their acquisition of a 49.9% non-controlling interest and 70% economic interest in Northleaf Capital Partners
Mackenzie Financial Corporation on its acquisition of Greenchip Financial Corp.
Kognitiv Corporation on its combination transaction with Aimia's Loyalty Solutions business
Sagard Holdings on its strategic investment in Grayhawk Investment Strategies
FLIR Systems, Inc. on its US$200-million acquisition of Aeryon Labs Inc.
The Toronto-Dominion Bank on its acquisitions of artificial intelligence firm Layer 6 Inc. and asset management firm Greystone Capital Management
Celestica on its acquisitions of Atrenne Integrated Solutions and Impakt Holdings
A private equity firm in connection with the establishment of a dental service organization and its continuing consolidation of specialist dental and orthodontist practices across Canada
OmniTRAX on its sale of the Hudson Bay Rail Line and the Port of Churchill
Sagard Holdings on its joint venture with Fairfax and US$575-million acquisition of the business of Performance Sports Group
Transamerica/Aegon on the C$600-million sale of its Canadian business to Wilton Re, a subsidiary of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board
Questcor Pharmaceuticals on its C$100-million acquisition of BioVectra
BTG plc on its C$200-million acquisition of the Targeted Therapies business from Nordion
Private equity transactions, including MidOcean Partners in the US$560-million sale of the Noranco business to Precision Castparts Corp; KingSett Capital and AIMCO in their $2-billion acquisition of ING Summit Industrial Fund; GPS Products on the sale of its classroom furniture business to Ironbridge Equity Partners; VRG Capital in its acquisitions of Jones Brown and Pearson Dunn and subsequent disposition to Arthur Gallagher; Lone Star Funds in its US$700-million acquisition of the North American gypsum division of Lafarge; Advent International in its acquisition of Distribution International; and Sheridan Capital Partners on the disposition of Canadian Orthodontic Partners

Venture Capital

Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board as lead investor in the C$375-million Series D financing of ApplyBoard
Koru LP, a venture foundry created by the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, on various matters including the founding of Elovee, Fyld, Vayda and ReturnBear
The controlling shareholder of Wealthsimple in respect of its investments in Wealthsimple, including in respect of the C$750-million financing round led by Meritech and Greylock, which involved a C$500-million secondary sale of shares by the controlling shareholder
McCain Foods on its investments in TruLeaf Sustainable Agriculture Limited, Simulate Labs and Fiddlehead Technologies
Koho Financial on various matters, including investment rounds led by Portag3 and Drive Capital
IGM Financial on its investments in Personal Capital and subsequent disposition to Empower
Various emerging companies in connection with financing transactions and other matters