Jake Gilbert, Toronto

About Jake

Jake advises domestic and international clients, both public and private, on a full range of business matters, including cross-border and Canadian mergers and acquisitions.

Jake's primary areas of focus are financial services (including banking, credit cards, loyalty, brokerages, insurance, mutual funds and wealth management) and software companies. He also advises clients on deals and commercial arrangements in the consumer goods, pharma and manufacturing sectors.

Select Experience

Representative transactions include advising:

Financial Services

Scotiabank on the establishment of its joint venture with Cineplex, Canada's largest movie theatre chain, and Empire, one of Canada's largest grocery retailers, and the launch and expansion of the Scene+ national loyalty program
HUB International Limited on various acquisitions in the insurance brokerage and benefits consulting space, including the acquisition of Integro (Canada) Ltd., Cypher Systems Group Inc., Proteus Performance Management Inc., the Canadian benefits consulting business of Morneau Shepell Ltd., H.W. Hollinger and Seymour Alper
Industrial Alliance Financial Services Inc. on the sale of its subsidiary, iA Investment Counsel Inc. (operating under the brands T.E. Wealth and Leon Frazer & Associate), to Canadian Western Bank and the sale of its interest in Forstrong Global Asset Management Inc.
A shareholder of Canada Protection Plan on the sale of its life insurance distribution business to Foresters Financial
FLEETCOR Technologies, Inc. on the acquisition of Associated Foreign Exchange, Inc. (AFEX), a cross-border payment solutions provider, and Cambridge Mercantile Corp., a business-to-business payments company, for approximately US$650-million
Global Payments Inc. on its acquisition of the merchant acquiring business and portfolio of 40,000 merchants of Desjardins Group
The Bank of Nova Scotia on the sale of the business and assets of Roynat Lease Finance, a division of its subsidiary Roynat Inc., to Meridian Credit Union Limited
Certain shareholders of Jones Brown Inc. on the sale of Jones Brown Inc. to Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.
Stored Value Solutions, Inc., a division of FLEETCOR Technologies, Inc., on its acquisition of Buyatab Online Inc., a leading international provider of online gift card solutions
Canadian Tire Financial Services on a strategic partnership with the Bank of Nova Scotia, including the sale of a 20% interest in its credit card business for C$500-million
Standard Life PLC on the C$4-billion sale of its Canadian insurance business to Manulife Financial Corp.
LeasePlan Corporation N.V. on its national fleet management licensing arrangement with Foss National Leasing Ltd.
Bank of America on the sale of an C$8-billion credit card portfolio to the Toronto-Dominion Bank

Software/Technology

Fullsteam, a portfolio company of Aquiline Capital Partners, on various investments in Canadian software companies, including Commerce 7, IQware and Vonigo
Elm Street, a portfolio company of Aquiline Capital Partners, on various investments in Canadian software companies, including Morris and Ixact
RBC on its investment in Tradelogiq, an Alternative Trading Systems operator
RBC Ventures Inc. on the acquisition of Dr. Bill, a premium billing solution for Canada's medical community

Other

Eli Lilly on its strategic investment in Entos Pharmaceuticals, a developer of next generation genetic medicines
Linamar Corporation on its C$1.2-billion acquisition of the MacDon Group of Companies, a global market leader in the design and manufacturing of specialized agriculture harvesting equipment
Meltwater News Canada Inc. on the acquisition of the Infomart media monitoring business from Postmedia Network Canada Corp.