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About Fabien

Fabien specializes in bank financing, project financing and asset-based financing. He has been involved in numerous bank and project financings in Canada, Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Other areas of expertise include renewable energy and infrastructure projects, as well as public-private partnerships (P3).

Fabien acts for banks, financial institutions, pension and private equity funds, development banks, sponsors and companies. He is particularly interested in investments related to impact investing, and in this context, he advises investors and financial institutions.

Prior to joining Blakes, Fabien practised for more than four years as a project finance lawyer at the Paris office of an international law firm.

Fabien is fluent in French and English.

Select Experience

Recent representative transactions include advising:

Bank Financing

  • The Toronto-Dominion Bank, as administrative agent and sole sustainability structuring agent, for Ivanhoe Cambridge's C$1-billion sustainability-linked credit facilities

  • A syndicate of lenders in connection with the financing of a pharmaceutical company

  • The subordinated lenders on the financing of the production restart of an iron mine in Quebec

  • A syndicate of lenders in connection with the financing of a technology company

  • A syndicate of lenders in connection with a C$500-million financing to acquire a Quebec company

  • A private equity fund for the financing of the acquisition of a Quebec company in the paper industry

  • The Canadian subsidiary of a large multinational corporation for the refinancing of its corporate debt totalling US$2.1-billion

  • A publicly traded company with the refinancing of its corporate debt

Renewable Energy

  • The lenders for a 16 MW hydroelectricity project in Ontario

  • The lenders for a 22 MW hydroelectricity project in British Columbia

  • Financial institutions and pension fund managers in connection with their acquisition of an undivided interest in Mont-Rothery wind farm in Quebec and related financing

  • The lenders for a 25 MW wind farm project in Quebec

  • The lenders in connection with the project financing of two 20 MW solar projects in Ontario

International Experience

  • Investors in the financing and development of 100 MW solar photovoltaic projects in West Africa

  • A major sponsor in connection with the development and financing of the extension of Mauritius International Airport

  • The project company for the development and construction of the expansion of an independent thermal plant in Saudi Arabia

  • The International Finance Corporation (IFC – a member of the World Bank Group) for a strategic investment in Cameroon
Awards & Recognition

Fabien has been recognized as a leading lawyer in the following publications:

  • The Best Lawyers in Canada (2024–2025: Asset-Based Lending Practice; 2022–2025: Banking and Finance Law)

  • The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory 2024 (Repeatedly Recommended – Asset Equipment Finance/Leasing, Banking & Financial Institutions)

  • The Lexpert/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada 2019 (Leading Lawyer to Watch – Banking & Financial Institutions)

  • Lexpert magazine, November/December 2018 (Named one of Canada's Rising Stars: Leading Lawyers Under 40)

Professional Activities

Fabien is proud of his involvement with the One Drop Foundation, which aims to develop projects to promote sustainable access to drinking water for the most vulnerable communities on the planet, and with Crossroads International, a leading Canadian volunteer cooperation agency advancing equality for women and girls and eradicating poverty in some of the world's poorest countries in Africa. He coordinates within the Firm the pro bono legal work offered to the One Drop Foundation and to Crossroads International.

Education

Admitted to the Paris Bar – 2012 (not practising)
Admitted to the Bar of England and Wales – 2010
Admitted to the Quebec Bar – 2005
BCL/LLB, McGill University – 2003
MSc (Economics), University of Essex (U.K.) – 2000
BA (Economics and Political Science), McGill University – 1999

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