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About Jeff

Jeff is widely recognized as one of Canada's leading M&A lawyers. He has advised purchasers, targets and special committees on many of Canada's most significant M&A transactions, and has extensive experience in both negotiated and unsolicited transactions. He also advises public companies on corporate governance, shareholder activism, restructurings and securities law matters, and in connection with public offerings of equity and debt securities. He has experience in a wide range of industries, including mining, media and telecommunications, real estate, financial services, power generation and retail/consumer products.

Jeff took on the role of Managing Partner of our London office in 2023, but he continues to spend significant time in Toronto, where he was located prior to becoming Office Managing Partner in London. Jeff has also served as a Practice Group Leader and on various committees at Blakes, including the Firm's Executive Committee.

Select Experience

Recent representative transactions include advising:

Mergers and Acquisitions

  • OMERS on its C$1.35-billion sale of LifeLabs to Quest Diagnostics Incorporated

  • The Special Committee of the Board of Directors of Teck Resources Limited in connection with the sale of Teck's steelmaking coal business through a sale of a majority stake to Glencore plc for an implied enterprise value of US$9.0-billion and a sale of a minority stake to Nippon Steel Corporation

  • Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. in connection with Algonquin’s strategic review of its Renewable Energy Group, culminating in the pursuit of a sale of the renewables business

  • The Special Committee of the Board of Directors of Teck Resources Limited in connection with Teck's proposed separation into two independent publicly listed companies and the collapse of its dual class voting structure

  • BHP in connection with its take-over bid for Noront Resources Ltd.

  • The Board of Directors of Canadian Pacific Railway Limited on CP's acquisition of Kansas City Southern, a transaction representing an enterprise value of approximately US$29-billion

  • Genworth MI Canada Inc. on its C$1.6-billion acquisition by Brookfield Business Partners L.P.

  • Torstar Corporation in connection with its acquisition by NordStar Capital L.P.

  • Hudson's Bay Company in connection with its C$2-billion privatization transaction with a shareholder group led by the Company's Executive Chairman

  • Public Sector Pension Investment Board and Alberta Teachers' Retirement Fund Board on their C$1.7-billion acquisition of AltaGas Canada Inc.

  • Great Hill Partners in connection with its acquisition of VersaPay Corporation for approximately C$125-million

  • Canadian Real Estate Investment Trust in connection with its C$3.9-billion acquisition by Choice Properties REIT

  • CCCC International Holding Limited in connection with its proposed C$1.51-billion acquisition of Aecon Group Inc.

  • CI Financial Corp. on its acquisition of Sentry Investments Inc. for C$780-million in cash and common shares of CI Financial Corp.

  • Kinross Gold Corporation on the sale of its 25% interest in the Cerro Casale project and 100 per cent interest in the Quebrada Seca project to Goldcorp Inc. for consideration including US$300-million in cash

  • The Special Committee of Amaya Inc. in connection with a proposed going-private transaction and related matters

  • Sprott Resource Corp. in connection with its business combination with Adriana Resources Inc.

  • Capstone Infrastructure Corporation on iCON Infrastructure Partners III's acquisition of Capstone for approximately C$480-million

  • The Independent Trustees of Central GoldTrust in connection with the acquisition of CentralGold Trust by Sprott Asset Management Gold Bid LP

  • Johnson Electric Holdings Limited on its C$800-million acquisition of Stackpole International

  • Bell on its C$670-million acquisition of GLENTEL Inc. and subsequent sale of a 50% interest in GLENTEL Inc. to Rogers Communications Inc.

  • BlackBerry Limited on a US$4.7-billion acquisition proposal from Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited

  • Borealis Infrastructure and LifeLabs Medical Laboratory Services in connection with LifeLabs' acquisition of CML Healthcare Inc., a transaction valued at C$1.22-billion

  • Safeway Inc. on the sale of its Canadian operations to Sobeys Inc. for C$5.8-billion, selected as the 2013 Deal of the Year by Lexpert magazine

  • Capstone Infrastructure Corporation on its acquisition of Renewable Energy Developers Inc.

  • Bell and Rogers Communications Inc. on their acquisition of a net 75% ownership position in Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, which owns the Toronto Maple Leafs NHL hockey franchise, Toronto Raptors NBA basketball franchise and Toronto FC MLS soccer franchise

  • Kinross Gold Corporation on the sale of its 50% interest in the Crixas Mine to AngloGold Ashanti Limited for US$220-million; its US$370-million acquisition of the Dvoinoye deposit and Vodorazdelnaya property in Russia; its US$250-million acquisition of the Lobo-Marte gold project in Chile; and its US$3.1-billion acquisition of Bema Gold Corporation

  • BHP Billiton on its US$40-billion offer to acquire Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan

Capital Markets

  • Granite REIT in connection with the reorganization of its stapled unit capital structure into a conventional trust unit capital structure

  • Granite REIT on numerous public offerings of debt and equity

  • Canadian counsel to Intact Financial Corporation on its offering of C$4.45-billion of subscription receipts in connection with its proposed C$12.3-billion acquisition, together with Tryg A/S, of RSA Insurance Group Plc

  • Intact Financial Corporation on its US$1.7-billion acquisition of OneBeacon Insurance Group, Ltd., and related C$700-million equity financing consisting of a C$360-million bought deal public offering of subscription receipts and a C$340-million private placement of subscription receipts

  • The underwriters in connection with Stornoway Diamond Corporation's C$946-million comprehensive financing transaction, including a C$132-million public offering of subscription receipts, to fund the construction of its Renard diamond project in Quebec

  • Pattern Energy Group Inc. on its C$400-million cross-border initial public offering of common shares and its subsequent US$586-million and US$350-million cross-border public offerings of common shares

  • BlackBerry Limited on its US$1.25-billion private placement of convertible debentures to Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited and other institutional investors

  • BHP Billiton Finance Limited on its C$750-million offering of maple bonds

  • Capstone Infrastructure Corporation on numerous public offerings of common shares and debentures

  • Genworth MI Canada Inc. on its C$950-million initial public offering and subsequent public offerings of C$425-million of debentures and substantial issuer bids for an aggregate of C$485-million of common shares

  • Underwriters on numerous public offerings of equity and debt securities, including offerings led by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, BMO Capital Markets, GMP Securities, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, National Bank Financial, RBC Capital Markets, Scotia Capital, TD Securities and UBS Securities

Awards & Recognition

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

  • Chambers Global: The World's Leading Lawyers for Business 2024 (Corporate/M&A)

  • Chambers Canada: Canada's Leading Lawyers for Business 2024 (Corporate/Commercial)

  • The Legal 500 Canada 2024 (Corporate and M&A, Capital Markets, International Expertise)

  • The Best Lawyers in Canada 2025 (Corporate Governance Practice, Corporate Law, Mergers and Acquisitions Law, Mining Law, Securities Law)

  • Best Lawyers: "Lawyer of the Year" 2025 (Corporate Governance Practice, Toronto)

  • The 2024 Lexpert/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada (Mergers & Acquisitions, Corporate Finance & Securities, Corporate Commercial Law)

  • The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory 2024 (Mergers & Acquisitions, Corporate Finance & Securities, Corporate Commercial Law, Private Equity and Mining)

  • Lexpert Special Edition: Energy and Mining 2024

  • Who's Who Legal: M&A and Governance 2024 (M&A)

  • Who's Who Legal: Capital Markets 2023

  • Who's Who Legal: Thought Leaders – Global Elite 2023 (Capital Markets – Debt & Equity)

  • Who's Who Legal: Canada 2023 (Capital Markets, Corporate Governance, M&A)

  • IFLR1000: The Guide to the World's Leading Financial and Corporate Law Firms 2023 (Mergers and Acquisitions)

  • Who's Who Legal: Thought Leaders 2022 (M&A)

  • Thomson Reuters Stand-out Lawyers 2021 – Independently Rated Lawyers (As nominated by senior in-house counsel)

Education

Admitted to the Ontario Bar – 1991
LLB, University of Toronto – 1989
BComm, University of Alberta – 1986

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