Michelle Lally - Competition/Antitrust Lawyer

Michelle Lally

Partner, Competition/Antitrust and Foreign Investment

Key Contact: Competition/Antitrust - Mergers & Acquisitions

Key Contact: Competition/Antitrust

Key Contact: Foreign Investment/Investment Canada

Contact Information

mlally@osler.com

tel: 416.862.5925

Office

Toronto

Michelle is a senior partner of the Osler Competition/Antitrust and Foreign Investment Group. She has previously served as Chair of the Group and on the firm’s Executive Committee and is a former executive member and Chair of the National Competition Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association.

Michelle has over 30 years of extensive experience in all aspects of competition law, including mergers & acquisitions, strategic alliances, price fixing & bid-rigging investigations and pricing and distribution matters, and reviews under Canada’s foreign investment law, the Investment Canada Act.

Michelle has successfully obtained clearances under the Competition Act for hundreds of domestic, cross-border and international transactions. She regularly advises parties the application of the dual track regime relating to agreements between competitors  criminal conspiracy and civil competitor collaborations), abuse of dominance, price maintenance, refusal to supply, tied selling and exclusive dealing provisions of the Competition Act.  As part of providing strategic competition law counselling and compliance advice, Michelle often designs and conducts internal antitrust audits/investigations for clients.

  • dcbel Inc.

    dcbel in receiving a strategic investment from Volvo Cars Tech Fund

  • Photonis Group

    Photonis Group in its agreement to acquire Telops

  • WeCommerce Holdings

    WeCommerce in its $962 million business combination with Tiny Capital

  • Drax Group

    Drax Group in the acquisition of Princeton Standard Pellet Corporation’s pellet plant

  • Zebra Technologies

    Zebra Technologies in its acquisition of Matrox Imaging

  • IVC Nutrition Corporation

    IVC Nutrition Corporation in its acquisition of Vita Health Products Inc.

  • Domtar

    Domtar in its $3 billion acquisition by Paper Excellence

  • Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec

    Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and FFL Partners agree to acquire New Look

  • The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.

    The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. in its agreement to increase its ownership in DECIEM Beauty Group Inc.

  • Drax Group plc

    Drax Group plc in its acquisition of Pinnacle Renewable Energy

  • Textron Inc.

    Textron Inc. in its sale of TRU Simulation Inc + Training Inc., to CAE Inc. for US$40 million

  • Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division

    Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking in its $1.13 billion acquisition of People Corporation

  • Bristol Myers Squibb

    Bristol Myers Squibb in its acquisition of Forbius

  • Madison Dearborn Partners

    Madison Dearborn Partners in its acquisition of the APM Group International

  • Ventas, Inc.

    Ventas in its acquisition of a high quality Canadian seniors housing portfolio valued at $2.4 billion in partnership with Le Groupe Maurice

    • Microsoft in various acquisitions including in its US$68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard and acquisitions of Nuance Communications, ZeniMax, Two Hat and Xandr
    • TD Bank in connection with Air Canada’s acquisition of Aimia Canada
    • Special Committee of Goldcorp in its US$10 billion acquisition by Newmont Mining
    • Constellation Brands in its $5.1 billion strategic investment in and partnership with Canopy Growth Corporation
    • BlackRock Asset Management Canada Limited in connection with its strategic alliance with RBC Global Asset Management Inc. to create a combined $60 billion ETF solution suite under the RBC iShares brand
    • Nasdaq, Inc. in connection with the sale of its Public Relations Solutions and Digital Media Services Businesses to West Corporation for approximately US$335 million
    • L Brands with its sale of the La Senza business to Regent L
    • Corbeil Électrique Inc. in connection with the sale of substantially all of its business and assets to AM-CAM Électroménagers Inc.
    • S.L.H. Transport Inc. and its affiliates in connection with the sale of its business to C.A.T. Inc.
    • A leading generic drug manufacturer in connection with the Competition Bureau’s investigation relating to policies or practices of certain branded drug manufacturers
    • South32 in its announced $2.1 billion acquisition of Arizona Mining
    • Mitel Networks Corporation in its sale to affiliates of Searchlight Capital Partners for US$2 billion
    • Investors led by BC Partners and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan in the $5.125 billion recapitalization of GFL Environmental Inc.
    • Chemtrade Logistics Income Fund in its take-over bid of Canexus Corporation
    • Microsoft Corporation in connection with its US$26.2 billion acquisition of LinkedIn Corporation and LinkedIn Corporation in respect of Canadian Competition Act advice and services
    • Office Depot Inc., in its US$1 billion acquisition of THL Portfolio Holdings Corp., the parent company of CompuCom Systems, Inc.
    • Lenders and underwriters in the acquisition of Dominion Diamond Corporation by Washington Companies Corp.
    • Royal Bank of Canada in defending RBC in a $1.05 billion class action alleging conspiracy to fix foreign exchanges prices
    • Whistler Blackcomb Holdings Inc. in its $1.4 billion acquisition by Vail Resorts
    • TELUS Corporation in connection with its acquisition of Manitoba assets from Bell upon closing of the Bell-MTS transaction
  • Find More

  • Chambers Canada: Canada’s Leading Lawyers for Business: Recognized in Competition/Antitrust (Nationwide - Canada)
  • Chambers Global: The World’s Leading Business Lawyers: Recognized in Competition/Antitrust
    • ...a "fantastic resource for competition law,"
    • ..."is excellent in navigating complex regulatory situations. She's strategic but also practical and understands business."
  • The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory: Recognized in Competition Law; Ontario’s leading competition lawyers in 2021
  • The Lexpert/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada: Recognized in Competition Law
  • The Lexpert Guide to the Leading US/Canada Cross-Border Corporate Lawyers in Canada: Recognized in Competition/Antitrust
  • Best Lawyers in Canada: Recognized in Competition/Antitrust Law
  • Legal 500: Recognized as a Leading Lawyer, Competition & Antitrust
  • Who’s Who Legal: Recognized in Competition (International); Competition (Canada)
  • Thomson Reuters: "Stand-out Lawyer"

  • Canadian Bar Association, a Former Chair of the National Competition Law Section
  • American Bar Association, Section of Antitrust Law
  • American Bar Foundation, Life Fellow
  • Women’s White Collar Defense Association