Richard Turner, Toronto

About Richard

Richard's practice primarily focuses on acting for clients in public and private merger and acquisition transactions and in public offerings of debt and equity.

He has acted on both the buyside and sellside of M&A matters, as well as for special committees, significant securityholders and investment banks in the M&A context. His experience includes advising private equity funds and pension funds on M&A matters and both issuers and underwriters on public offerings. Richard has also advised on contested proxy battles, as well as continuous disclosure and corporate governance related matters.

Richard has a deep understanding of the Canadian public M&A market for both friendly and unsolicited transactions. He is one of the driving forces behind the Blakes Public M&A Deal Study, which is produced by the firm each year and is a go-to resource for buyers, sellers and investment banks involved in Canadian public merger & acquisition transactions. His transactional experience and work with the study gives him both practical and data-driven insight into the Canadian M&A market.

Richard has experience working on files in a wide range of industries, including mining, aviation/aerospace, power generation, technology, hospitality, financial services and cannabis, among others.

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Representative transactions include advising:

Mergers & Acquisitions

Turquoise Hill Resources Limited, owner of the Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine in Mongolia, on its C$4.3-billion going private acquisition by its controlling shareholder Rio Tinto plc
The Special Committee of the Board of Directors of GCM Mining Corp. on its related party privatization of Aris Gold Corporation
BHP in connection with its board-supported take-over bid for Noront Resources Ltd.
Public Sector Pension Investment Board and Alberta Teachers' Retirement Fund Board on their C$1.7-billion acquisition of AltaGas Canada Inc.
CCCC International Holding Limited in connection with its proposed C$1.51-billion acquisition of Aecon Group Inc.
PHI, Inc. in connection with its acquisition, with Don Wall, of HNZ Group Inc. in a transaction valued at C$240-million
Capstone Infrastructure Corporation in connection with its C$480-million acquisition by iCON Infrastructure Partners III
DigitalGlobe, Inc. in connection with its US$3-billion acquisition by MacDonald Dettwiler & Associates
KSL Capital in connection with the sale of its 24% interest in Whistler-Blackcomb Holdings to Vail Resorts as part of Vail Resorts' C$1.4-billion acquisition of Whistler-Blackcomb Holdings
UnitedHealth Group in connection with its US$15-billion acquisition of Catamaran Corporation
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
BlackBerry Limited on a US$4.7-billion acquisition proposal from Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited
Maple Group Acquisition Corporation, as co-counsel, in connection with its offer to acquire TMX Group Inc. in a transaction valued at C$3.7-billion
BHP on its US$40-billion offer to acquire Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan

Financings

BHP on its private placement investment in Brixton Metals Corporation
The Hawthorne Collective, Inc., a subsidiary of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, on its US$150-million strategic investment in RIV Capital Inc.
The dealer syndicate on the C$4-billion medium term note program of Hydro One Inc. under a base shelf prospectus
Verizon Communications Inc. on its C$1.5-billion offering of maple bonds
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
BHP on its private placement investment in Midland Exploration Inc.
The underwriters in connection with a C$100-million offering of convertible debentures of Atlantic Power Corporation
The underwriters in connection with the C$1.54-billion offering of convertible debentures of Hydro One Limited represented by instalment receipts relating to its proposed acquisition of Avista Corporation
Intact Financial Corporation on its 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), C$150-million issuance of preference shares and C$425-million issuance of medium term notes, all relating to its acquisition of OneBeacon Insurance Group, Ltd.
The underwriters in connection with the C$1.8-billion initial public offering of common shares of Hydro One Limited, as well as secondary offerings of C$2-billion and C$2.8-billion
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