Robert M. Yalden

Robert M. Yalden, Partner, Corporate

Contact Information

  • tel: 514.904.8120
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Areas of Expertise

Bar Admission

Québec, 1992 ; Ontario, 1991

Education

  • Université de Montréal, LL.M.
  • University of Toronto, LL.B.
  • Oxford University, M.A. (Jurisprudence)
  • Queen’s University, B.A. (Honours)

Office

Montréal

Language(s)

English, French

Biography

Robert’s areas of specialty include mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and corporate governance. Robert served as Co-Chair of the firm’s Mergers and Acquisitions Group for ten years prior to joining the firm's Executive Committee, on which he currently serves. Robert was part of the team that opened the firm's Montréal office in 2001, before which he was based in the firm’s Toronto office. Robert has acted in connection with a wide range of M&A transactions, including hostile and friendly business acquisitions, the implementation of defensive strategies, going-private transactions and strategic alliances. Robert was part of the Osler legal team that implemented the first poison pill in Canada and has since worked with a wide range of companies on their defense strategies. He led the Osler legal team involved in Canada’s largest ever completed leveraged buy-out, as well as in the largest private equity deal completed in Canada in 2008. He is also active in advising on public and private securities financings, corporate governance issues (including for a range of crown corporations and government sponsored agencies) and general public company matters. Robert is a former Supreme Court of Canada Law Clerk and teaches Business Law at McGill University’s Faculty of Law.

Notable Matters

  • TELUS Corporation in its $766 million acquisition of Emergis Inc. by way of take-over bid.
  • Controlling shareholders of CHC Helicopters Corporation in its $3.7 billion sale to First Reserve Corporation (largest Canadian private equity deal in 2008).
  • Berry Plastics (one of the U.S.’s leading makers of plastic products) in connection with its acquisition of MAC Closures Inc.
  • SR Telecom Inc. in connection with the sale of its business to Groupe Lagassé and its plan of arrangement with Bonterra Energy Income Trust (done within the context of CCAA proceedings).
  • IBM Corporation and IBM Canada in IBM Canada’s acquisition of Systemcorp A.L.G. Limited (a leading Montréal-based provider of project portfolio management software).
  • BCE Inc. in the $3 billion sale of its print and electronic directories business to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Ontario Teachers Pension Plan (largest ever completed leveraged buy-out involving a Canadian company).
  • World Color Press Inc., Tim Horton’s Inc., Miranda Technologies Inc., Kinross Gold Corporation, IPSCO Inc., Shoppers Drug Mart Corp., Placer Dome Inc., Inco Limited, NOVA Chemicals Corporation, TELUS Corporation, Fording Inc., Wescam Inc., Biovail Corporation, Mosaid Technologies, SFK Pulp Fund, Groupe CVTech Inc. and Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc., among other issuers, in the preparation and implementation of shareholder rights plans.
  • The underwriting syndicate for Jaguar Mining’s 2009 offering of convertible senior notes for gross proceed of U.S.$165 million.
  • The underwriting syndicates in Jazz Air Income Fund and Aeroplan Income Fund’s initial public offerings of 25 million units each for aggregate proceeds of $250 million in each case.
  • ART Advanced Research Technologies in its initial public offering, subsequent public offerings, several rounds of private financing and its recapitalization in 2009.

Affiliations

  • Canadian Bar Association (Ontario and Québec Divisions)
  • American Bar Association
  • International Bar Association

Industry Recognition

Robert is listed as one of Canada’s leading corporate and M&A lawyers in the latest editions of: Chambers Global: The World’s Leading Lawyers for Business; IFLR 1000: The Guide to the World’s Leading Financial Law Firms; Best Lawyers in Canada and The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory.

Publications/Events/Education

  • Business Organizations: Principles, Policies and Practice, Edmond Montgomery (2008) (with J. Sara, P. Paton, M. Gillen, R. Davis and M. Condon)
  • “Government of Canada Proposes a Canadian Securities Regulator” (Osler Update, June, 2010) 
  • The BCE Decision: The Courts’ Vision of the Corporation and its Implications for M&A Advisors, 39th Consumer and Commercial Law Workshop (Montréal, 2009)
  • Fusion et acquisition d’une société par actions, Chapter 17, JurisClasseur Québec – Droit des Sociétés, (2009) (with H.-P. Gagnon)
  • "Canada" in The Mergers & Acquisition Review 2008 and 2009, Law Business Research (with E. Pressman, D. Bryce and P. Magnan)
  • “Kerr v. Danier Leather Inc., Disclosure, Deference and the Duty to Update Forward Looking Information” (2006) 43(1) Canadian Business Law Journal 106 (with J. Fraiberg).

Pro Bono/Community Work

Robert has a long standing commitment to legal education and to charitable organizations involved with educational causes. He serves in the following capacities:

  • Sessional lecturer in Business Law, Faculty of Law, McGill University and Member of its Faculty Advisory Board.
  • Canadian Centre for Ethics and Corporate Policy, Director.
  • Equitas: International Centre for Human Rights Education, President
  • French for the Future, Director.

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Robert M. Yalden

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