Art of the case: Target Canada’s restructuring – Lexpert Magazine

Tracy Sandler

Sep 20, 2016

In a lengthy piece in the July/August 2016 issue of Lexpert Magazine, veteran legal affairs writer Julius Melnitzer offers an in-depth look at Target Canada’s restructuring and controversial exit from the country after its brief stay. The company was granted creditor protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act in January 2015 in what Melnitzer defines as a “stunning demise to the U.S. chain’s first international foray.” What followed was 16 months of negotiations, court appearances and compromises. The process was long, complex, arduous – and precedent setting in a number of ways. Tracy Sandler is a partner in Osler’s Insolvency & Restructuring Group and was a member of Target Canada’s legal team.

“It’s important to understand the complexity involved in this restructuring,” Tracy explains in the article. “It was the most challenging mandate of my 25-year career.”

Melnitzer describes the twists and turns of the case in great detail, including the negotiations and eventual outcomes reached with Target Canada’s employees, landlords, suppliers and the pharmacists who had established their operations inside Target stores.

“Our mandate from Target Canada was for speed, certainty and a graceful exit,” Tracy continues. “It was critical for us to come up with a creative solution for the human side of the equation relating to employees and team members. Bankruptcy was not a possibility that we found palatable.”

To learn more about how the Target Canada restructuring case unfolded, read Julius Melnitzer’s full article “Art of the case: Target Canada’s restructuring” in the July/August 2016 issue of Lexpert Magazine.