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Chris Hewat

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Representative transactions include advising:

Mergers and Acquisitions

  • Magnet Forensics Inc. on its sale to Thoma Bravo for C$1.8-billion

  • LG Bedrock Holdings LP on the C$398-million buyback of its common shares of Stelco Holdings Inc.

  • Kognitiv Corporation on its acquisition from Aimia Inc. of its Aimia Loyalty Solutions business, and related fiancing

  • The Special Committee of Callidus Capital Corporation in its going private transaction by way of plan of arrangement with Braslyn Ltd.

  • FLIR Systems, Inc. on its US$200-million acquisition of Aeryon Labs Inc.

  • The Descartes Systems Group Inc. on its C$330-million acquisition of Visual Compliance

  • The Toronto-Dominion Bank on its acquisition of artificial intelligence firm Layer 6 Inc. and acquisition of institutional asset manager Greystone Managed Investments Inc.

  • BlueCat Networks Inc. on its sale to Madison Dearborn Partners LLC

  • The Special Committee of Patheon Inc. on its sale to a joint venture established by its significant shareholder JLL Partners and Koninklijke DSM N.V. for US$2-billion

  • The Brick Ltd. and its Special Committee on its sale to Leon's Furniture Limited for C$700-million

  • Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. on its acquisition of Consolidated Thompson Iron Mines Ltd. for C$4.9-billion, and its contested acquisitions of Freewest Resources Inc. for C$240-million and Spider Resources Inc. for C$107-million

Capital Markets

  • D2L Inc. on its C$150-million initial public offering of subordinate voting shares

  • Magnet Forensics Inc. on its C$115-million initial public offering of subordinate voting shares and C$74-million secondary offering of subordinate voting shares

  • The underwriters in connection with the US$117-million public offering of shares of Trillium Therapeutics Inc.

  • The underwriters for Shopify Inc. on its US$150-million cross-border initial public offering and subsequent follow-on offerings

  • Open Text Corporation on its US$585-million cross-border equity offering and concurrent US$250-million offering of senior unsecured notes

  • The Descartes Systems Group Inc. on its US$147-million cross-border equity offering

Private Equity

  • Kognitiv Corporation on its C$48.5-million financing consisting of convertible notes and senior debt facility

  • Lindsay Goldberg on its controlling interest in Stelco Holdings Inc., and its participation in Stelco’s C$230-million initial public offering and subsequent secondary offerings

  • Open Text Corporation as lead industry sponsor in the venture fund of funds established under the federal Venture Capital Action Plan

  • Redknee Solutions Inc. on the equity investment of US$83.2-million by ESW Capital, LLC

  • D2L Inc. in connection with its C$85-million Series B financing

Awards & Recognition

Chris is recognized as a leading lawyer in the following publications:

  • The Best Lawyers in Canada 2024 (Corporate Governance Practice, Corporate Law, Mergers and Acquisitions Law, Securities Law, Technology Law)

  • Chambers Canada: Canada's Leading Lawyers for Business 2023 (Corporate/Commercial)

  • The Legal 500 Canada 2023 (Capital Markets)

  • The Lexpert/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada 2023 (Corporate Finance & Securities, Corporate Commercial Law)

  • Chambers Global: The World's Leading Lawyers for Business 2023 (Corporate/M&A)

  • The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory 2023 (Corporate Finance & Securities, Mergers & Acquisitions, Private Equity, Technology Transactions, Corporate Commercial Law)

  • Thomson Reuters Stand-out Lawyer 2023 – Independently Rated Lawyers (As nominated by senior in-house counsel)

  • IFLR1000: The Guide to the World's Leading Financial and Corporate Law Firms 2023 (Capital Markets: Equity, M&A, Private Equity)

  • Who’s Who Legal: Global 2023 (Capital Markets – Debt & Equity, Corporate Governance, M&A)

  • Who's Who Legal: Canada 2022 (Capital Markets, M&A, Corporate Governance)

Education

Admitted to the Ontario Bar – 1987
LLB, MBA, Western University – 1985
BA, Queen's University – 1981

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