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On July 7, 2020, Golo Mobile Inc., a company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange that specializes in eco-delivery in large business centres, announced the acquisition of Walter Innovations Inc., a building automation technology start-up that has created a solution to connect property managers and residents of condominiums and apartment buildings. A Lavery team composed of Étienne Brassard, Éric Lavallée and Jean-François Maurice represented the selling shareholders of Walter Innovations Inc. in an exit context, allowing Walter's initial investors and entrepreneurs to successfully sell the company and its underlying technology. More concretely, the Lavery team assisted the sellers in negotiating and implementing a transaction structure adapted to their objectives and to the consideration offered by the buyer, i.e. publicly traded shares. Through a holdback of a portion of the shares and an alignment between the duration of the holdback and the obligations of the sellers, our team enabled the seed investors to make a profitable exit and the selling shareholders involved in the direct management of Walter Innovations Inc. to transition as key employees of Golo Mobile Inc. while aligning the interests of the buyer and the sellers in order to achieve a result that is beneficial to all parties.

On June 29, Chronometriq, a North American leader in healthcare management, announced its acquisition of Health Myself Innovations Inc. A Lavery team represented and advised Chronometriq to help them succeed in this acquisition, which will enrich their platform and service offering as well as contribute to the growth of their operations in the United States. Lavery supported Chronometriq for their Series A (financing by a Silicon Valley venture capital fund) and for their Series B (financing by a New York venture capital fund). It is a privilege for us to work towards the expansion of Chronometriq and to contribute to a fast-growing Quebec success story in the field of health technologies. To read the press release, click here.

Last October 28, La Granaudière announced that it has obtained more than $50M in financing from Ressources Québec, Investissement Québec and the Caisse Desjardins du Nord de Lanaudière. A team from Lavery represented the three lenders involved in the transaction and with respect to the relations between the various stakeholders in order to successfully complete this project, which will be a showcase for the renewable energy industry in Québec. This financing will enable La Granaudière, a plant producing wood pellets from forest biomass, to complete the construction of its plant by the summer of 2020 and to start producing wood pellets and exporting them to Europe by the end of 2020. The plant will produce nearly 200,000 tonnes of pellets annually, and should create about 180 direct and indirect jobs, including roughly 50 at the production plant in Saint-Michel-des-Saints. This mandate was successfully completed thanks to the extensive expertise of the Lavery team composed mainly by Étienne Brassard, Ali El Haskouri, Katerina Kostopoulos et Bernard Trang.

On September 19, 2019, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) announced a $53 million investment in Neuvoo, a company operating in 77 countries that is experiencing rapid growth in the field of job searches. This investment will allow it to continue its expansion into new markets and improve its online platform through artificial intelligence. Lavery is proud to have assisted Neuvoo with its legal and commercial needs since the company's very beginning, when it was a member of its Lavery GO Inc. program. This is a concrete example of Lavery GO Inc.'s raison d'être: to drive the success of emerging companies and help them move from start-up to growth.

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.

On June 28, a consortium made up of Groupe Sélection, Montoni and the Fonds immobilier de solidarité FTQ announced that it had officially acquired the Molson brewery land on Notre-Dame St. in Montréal. Lavery Lawyers, which has advised Groupe Sélection for many years, had the opportunity to play a significant role by representing Groupe Sélection’s interests in this $126 million transaction. "We are pleased to honour the trust that Groupe Sélection has placed in our firm’s expertise for more than 15 years, through the completion of the purchase of the Molson property. Through our business relationship, Groupe Sélection has also given us the privilege of contributing to the transformation and development of this part of the city of Montréal, which is so rich in historical and symbolic value," says Étienne Brassard, Business Law Partner at Lavery Lawyers.

Lavery is proud to announce that 25 partners are ranked among the leading practitioners in Canada in their respective practice areas in the 2019 edition of The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory. The following Lavery partners are listed in the 2019 edition of The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory: Asset Equipment Finance/Leasing Pierre Denis Aviation (Regulation & Liability) Louis Charette Banking & Financial Institutions Louis Payette, Ad.E. Computer & IT Law André Vautour Construction law Nicolas Gagnon Corporate Commercial law *Étienne Brassard Corporate Finance & Securities *Josianne Beaudry René Branchaud Employment Law *Marie-Josée Hétu, CIRC *Zeïneb Mellouli Family Law Caroline Harnois Elisabeth Pinard Gerald Stotland Franchise law Jean-Philippe Turgeon Intellectual Property Chantal Desjardins Alain Y. Dussault Alain M. Leclerc Labour Relations Pierre-L. Baribeau Michel Desrosiers *Danielle Gauthier, CHRP Michel Gélinas *Marie-Josée Hétu Guy Lavoie, CIRC Litigation - Product Liability Louis Charette Mining *Josianne Beaudry René Branchaud Sébastien Vézina Occupational Health & Safety Josiane L’Heureux Property Leasing Richard Burgos Workers' Compensation Guy Lavoie, CIRC *New posting The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory is the most comprehensive publication to legal talent in the country and it identifies leading practitioners in over 60 separate practice areas and leading law firms in over 40 practice areas. It is a reference guide for Canadian and foreign corporate counsels and law firms in need of specialized legal services in Canada. For more information, please visit Lexpert’s website at: http://www.lexpert.ca/directory.

Étienne Brassard, a partner in the Business Law Group, received the Rising Stars Award from Lexpert during a gala held in Toronto on November 8. This award pays tribute to lawyers under 40 who are considered rising stars in Canada’s legal community. The winners are selected based on rigorous and well-defined criteria: professional achievements, leadership, contribution to the profitability of the firm, keen business sense, vision, training and teamwork. Étienne Brassard’s practice is focused on private financing, mergers and acquisitions as well as corporate law. He advises local and international businesses in relation to all forms of private financing, from traditional or convertible debt to equity investments. Mr. Brassard has acquired specific experience in this area and can identify the challenges facing businesses interested in entering the Quebec market, regardless of their preferred route (acquisition, joint venture, creating a subsidiary, distribution agreement, etc.). In his work, he can call on the help of his vast business network (bankers, financial advisors, tax specialists and accountants) that he has built as a result of his previous mandates.

On February 21, 2018, Étienne Brassard, Partner with Lavery’s Business Law group, alongside Helen Bougas, Director of the Legal Affairs division of Réseau Sélection, made a presentation on the topic of construction project financing at the Corporation des entrepreneurs généraux du Québec’s 21st Annual Conference.      

Once again this year, Étienne Brassard and Guillaume Synnott, respectively a partner and a lawyer of the Business Law group, delivered two workshops on May 16 and June 19 to students participating in the Parcours Entrepreneurial Remi-Marcoux of the HEC Montréal on governance, financing, corporate law, and other issues for young entrepreneurs. Students were also offered one-on-one consulting time to discuss their specific cases and establish a solid legal base for both their business model and the future of their company.

Étienne Brassard and Benjamin David Gross, partners of the Business Law group, delivered a seminar entitled La vérification diligente en matière de financement during the Canadian Association of ParaLegals (CAP) Annual Convention, held on June 16 at the Plaza Centre-Ville Hotel in Montréal.

Lavery held two conferences, at its Montréal and Québec City offices respectively on June 1 and 8, 2017, on the latest developments, trends, and issues in construction law. Over one hundred participants attended the conferences. Marie-Claude Cantin moderated the Montréal conference, during which construction arbitration (Emil Vidrascu), the principle of fair treatment of bidders (Julie Grondin), and certain types of construction project financing (Étienne Brassard) were discussed. Marie Cossette moderated the Québec City conference, during which the legal distinction between the principal contract and sub-contract (François Bélanger), the decision in Buesco c. Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosement (Simon Rainville), and the essential due diligence principles with respect to licences, regulations, and authorization certificates (Pier-Olivier Fradette) were addressed.