Founded in 1862, business firm Osler, one of Canada’s Seven Sisters, is a leading law firm in the country. It is one of the leading firms in capital markets, M&A, project finance and restructuring and insolvency. It has five offices throughout Canada, in Toronto, Montréal, Calgary, Ottawa and Vancouver. The firm also has an international presence through its office in New York.  

Focusses/specialisms 

In addition to its top tier work in capital markets, M&A, project finance and restructuring and insolvency, the firm also has outstanding banking, regulatory financial services and project development.  

The banking practice acts for borrowers and lenders in acquisition finance, project finance, refinance and general corporate finance transactions. Project finance matters take place largely in the energy, infrastructure and mining industries, in addition to a lot of P3 related matters. In regulatory financial services, the team represents banks and financial institutions in compliance related to acquisitions and capital markets offerings, as well as general day-to-day compliance and cryptocurrency. 

The capital markets team advises both underwriters and issuers in the debt, equity and securitization spaces. It has expertise in investment grade bonds, maple bonds, IPOs, secondary offerings, public offerings, bought deals, mortgage backed securities, ABS and RMBS placements. The team also has a dedicated derivatives practice.

The M&A practice acts in high value strategic and private equity acquisitions on the buy and sell side. The firm does so much work in private equity that it has its own dedicated private equity group. 

The project development and finance practices are very active in the energy, transportation infrastructure, social infrastructure and mining industries. It also is very active in P3 projects. The group represents financial sponsors and developers in all stages of projects. 

The restructuring and insolvency practice acts for debtors, creditors, trustees, monitors and receivers in CCAA proceedings, out of court restructurings, distressed acquisitions, and cross border insolvencies.  

Key clients 

Key clients for the firm include CIBC, RBC, Bank of Montreal, TD Securities, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, Mobilinx Hurontario General Partnership, EllisDon Capital, Pattern Energy, Bank of Nova Scotia, Scotia Capital, Dream Industrial REIT, Blackstone, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Constellation Brands, Entertainment One, BC Partners, BMO Capital Markets, Lithium Americas, Kinross Gold, Hydro One, TransAlta, Wataynikaneyap Power, ACS Infrastructure, Arjun Infrastructure Partners, Fiera Infrastructure, Imperial Tobacco, Forever 21 and Bain Capital Credit.