Osler acted for the underwriters, led by Goldman Sachs, BMO Capital Markets, RBC Capital Markets and TD Securities, in connection with the initial public offering by Groupe Dynamite Inc. that closed this morning. GDI is based in Montréal and is a fast-fashion retailer operating the Garage and Dynamite retail brands. The company was founded in 1975 with a single store in Montréal and has since grown its footprint to nearly 300 stores across Canada and the United States. It has 6,000 employees. The offering represents the first IPO in Québec in nearly three years and the first in Canada in more than a year.
Pursuant to the offering, selling shareholders controlled by Andrew Lutfy, the Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of GDI, sold an aggregate of 14,285,715 subordinate voting shares at an offering price of $21 per share, for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $300 million, valuing the business at approximately $2.3 billion. The underwriters have also been granted an over-allotment option to purchase up to an additional 2,142,857 subordinate voting shares at a price of $21 per share for additional gross proceeds of approximately $45 million if the over-allotment option is exercised in full. The over-allotment option can be exercised for a period of 30 days from the closing date of the offering. The subordinate voting shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol “GRGD”.
Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP advised the underwriters with a team consisting of Desmond Lee, James Brown, Shira Dveris, Alexandria Proctor, Nick Guadagnolo (Corporate), François Paradis and Jeremy Brisset (Corporate – Montréal), Tim Hughes and James Chang (Tax), Yan Besner (Real Estate), Barry Fong (IP), and Chelsea Bland, Asma Bouali and Joshua Murray (Osler Works – Transactional).
Team
Associate, Corporate, Toronto
Associate, Corporate, Toronto
Associate, Corporate, Toronto
Partner, Corporate, Montréal
Partner, Corporate, Montréal
Partner, Tax, Toronto
Associate, Tax, Toronto
Partner, Real Estate, Montréal
Partner, Intellectual Property, Ottawa
Legal Analytics Lawyer, Osler Works – Transactional, Ottawa
Transaction Services Lawyer, Osler Works – Transactional, Ottawa
Legal Analytics Lawyer, Osler Works - Transactional, Ottawa