On November 10, the M&A Club of Quebec announced that Étienne Brassard and his team had won the Deal of the Year award in recognition of the strategic role they played in the acquisition of the Molson property by Selection Group. In the video of the award presentation, he highlighted the exceptional work of his team, particularly Bernard Trang and Dolaine Béland as well as Helen Bougas, Vice President, Legal Affairs of Selection Group and her team. The M&A Awards, which were presented virtually this year, are intended to honour the outstanding work of mergers and acquisitions professionals in Quebec and more broadly to recognize the mergers and acquisitions industry and its contribution to the economy. For the second year consecutively, the Lavery team won one of the prestigious M&A awards, following the cross-border transaction of the year in 2019 for the sale of Camso Inc. to Michelin.

On June 11, construction began on Espace Montmorency, Laval's largest mixed-use real estate project, worth nearly $500 million. Lavery had the opportunity to play a key role in this major transaction by representing Groupe Sélection in the creation of the consortium for the construction, development and ownership of Espace Montmorency. The organization of such a consortium raised complex issues related to corporate, construction, real estate and labour law all at once. In addition to having been mandated to develop several important project agreements, including the consortium agreement governing the rights and obligations of Espace Montmorency's builders, the lawyers involved in the deal represented Groupe Sélection in the negotiation of the terms of all the agreements ancillary to the project. Espace Montmorency is a sustainable, mixed-use urban development project combining residential, commercial, cultural and community spaces. This human-scale project, located near Place Bell and Laval's main thoroughfares and directly linked to Montréal's subway system, is sure to become a popular destination. Montoni and the Fonds immobilier de solidarité FTQ will now rely on the recognized expertise of our client Groupe Sélection, a Canadian leader in the creation of intergenerational living environments, for the design and construction of the residential portion of the project. The work of Lavery's team, led by Étienne Brassard and composed mainly of Bernard Trang, Carole Gélinas, France Camille De Mers, André Vautour, Nicole Messier, Guy Lavoie, Élodie Brunet, Chantal Tremblay, Dolaine Béland and Joëlle Montpetit, helped launch this flagship project for Laval.