Tax

• Equinix, Inc., a digital infrastructure company (and a U.S. real estate investment trust) on its acquisition of 13 data centres in Canada and their operations from BCE Inc. (Bell).

• Hudson’s Bay Company and its Special Committee of Independent Directors in connection with its successful completion of its plan of arrangement resulting in HBC becoming a private company.

• The Fertility Partners on the acquisition of two fertility clinics in Montréal (clinique ovo), Vancouver (Olive Fertility Centre), Kelowna (Kelowna Regional Fertility Centre) and Saskatchewan (Aurora Reproductive Care), as well as securing approximately C$90-million in equity and debt financing. 

• TC Energy Corp. on its sale of a 65 per cent equity stake in the Coastal GasLink Pipeline Project to KKR and AIMCo and the concurrent execution of a credit agreement providing non-recourse project-level financing to fund the majority of construction costs for the project.

• HgCapital LLP, a U.K. private equity firm, on its acquisition of Benevity, Inc., a Calgary-based software company. Blakes acted as Canadian counsel to HgCapital.

• London Stock Exchange Group plc on its US$27-billion acquisition of Refinitiv.

• PayPal on its acquisition of HyperWallet Systems Inc.

• Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd. on its C$4.5-billion sale of the Trans Mountain Pipeline system and expansion project to the Government of Canada.

• Linamar Corp. in connection with its C$1.2-billion acquisition of MacDon Industries Ltd.

• The Coca-Cola Company on the sale of Coca-Cola Refreshments Canada Company, responsible for all Coca-Cola bottling and distribution operations across Canada, to Kilmer Group.

• Transurban Group in connection with its acquisition of the A25 toll road bridge in Montréal from Macquarie Infrastructure Partners.

• Canadian Real Estate Investment Trust (CREIT) on its C$3.9-billion combination with Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust.

• Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. on its acquisition of Atoka Cranberries Inc. from The Bieler Group.

• Jarislowsky, Fraser Limited on the sale of its business to Scotiabank for approximately C$950-million.

• Pembina Pipeline Corporation on its US$9.7-billion acquisition of Veresen Inc.

• The Washington Companies in connection with its C$1.5-billion acquisition of Dominion Diamond Corporation, and related debt financing.

• Nexus REIT (formerly Edgefront REIT) in connection with its friendly merger with Nobel REIT to create a C$300-million diversified REIT.

• DP World Limited on its joint venture with Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec to create an investment platform focused on investing in ports and terminals globally.

• Warburg Pincus on its majority investment in SCM Insurance Services.

• TransCanada Corporation on its C$13.3-billion acquisition of all of the outstanding shares of Columbia Pipeline Group, Inc. and C$4.4-billion bought deal offering of subscription receipts in Canada and the United States.

• Element Financial Corporation on its “butterfly” spin-out transaction by way of plan of arrangement pursuant to which Element separated into two new public companies: Element Fleet Management Corp. and ECN Capital Corp.

• Mackenzie Investments, a subsidiary of IGM Financial Inc., on its acquisition of 13.9 per cent interest in China Asset Management Co., Ltd. for C$647-million.

• Standard Life plc on the sale of its Canadian business to Manulife for C$4-billion.

Members of the Blakes Tax group are consistently recognized as leaders in their field in the latest editions of the following publications:

• Chambers Canada: Canada’s Leading Lawyers for Business – Ranked in Band 1.

• Chambers Global: The World's Leading Lawyers for Business – Ranked in Band 1.

• International Tax Review’s World Tax – Ranked in Tier 1 for Canada.

• International Tax Review's World Transfer Pricing – Ranked in Tier 1.

• International Tax Review’s North America Tax Directors Poll – Ranked in the top tier for both Transactional and Tax Planning categories.

• The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory

• The Lexpert Guide to the Leading US/Canada Cross-Border Corporate Lawyers in Canada

• The  Lexpert Guide to the Leading US/Canada Cross-Border Litigation Lawyers in Canada

• The Lexpert/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada

• The Legal 500 Canada – Ranked in Tier 1.

• The Best Lawyers in Canada

• International Tax Review’s Women in Tax Leaders

• International Tax Review’s Tax Controversy Leaders

• International Tax Review’s Indirect Tax Leaders

• Legalease Ltd.’s Tax Directors Handbook – Ranked in Tier 1.

• Legal Media Group's Guide to the World’s Leading Transfer Pricing Advisers

• Legal Media Group's Guide to the World’s Leading Tax Advisers

• Legal Media Group's The Best of the Best

• Legal Media Group's The Best of the Best Top 30 – Transfer Pricing Advisors in the World

• Who's Who Legal: Corporate Tax

• Who's Who Legal: Canada

• Who's Who Legal

The Blakes Tax group has also received the following awards:

• International Tax Review's Americas Tax Awards 2017 – The Blakes Tax group has been awarded the "Canada Tax Firm of the Year," "Canada Tax Court Firm of the Year" and "North America Tax Disputes Firm of the Year."

• The Best Lawyers in Canada 2017 – “Law Firm of the Year” in the practice of Tax Law.