Emmanuel Pressman

Emmanuel Pressman

Partner, Corporate

Key Contact: Mergers and Acquisitions

Contact Information

epressman@osler.com

tel: 416.862.4903

Office

Toronto

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Areas of Expertise

Bar Admission

Ontario, 1998

Education

  • Western University, J.D.
  • University of Waterloo, B.E.S.

Language(s)

English

Emmanuel (Manny) Pressman served as Chair of Osler’s Corporate Department from 2015 until 2023 and as Head of the firm’s Mergers & Acquisitions practice during the prior five-year period. He represents public and private companies, private equity sponsors, special committees, boards of directors, and investment banks involved in take-over bids, proxy contests, joint ventures, negotiated and contested mergers and acquisitions, and a range of corporate transactions and restructurings. His clients have included Constellation Brands, The Estée Lauder Companies, Entertainment One, Magna International, Blackstone, TPG Capital, KingSett Capital, Vector Capital, New Mountain Capital, and Fairfax Financial.

Mr. Pressman is widely and repeatedly recognized as a leading M&A practitioner including by Who’s Who Legal (Global Leader); Chambers Global: The World’s Leading Lawyers for Business (Band 1); The Lexpert/AmLaw Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada; The Legal 500; The Best Lawyers in Canada; and The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory (Most Frequently Recommended).

In 2022, Mr. Pressman was recognized by Best Lawyers as its “Lawyer of the Year” in Corporate Law.  In 2021, he was recognized by Lexpert as one of “Toronto’s Top 20 Best M&A Lawyers”.  In 2020, he was recognized by IFLR 1000 as the inaugural recipient of its “M&A Lawyer of the Year Award” for Canada.  In 2019, he was recognized as one of Canada’s “Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers” by Canadian Lawyer in its annual peer survey.

Mr. Pressman is an elected Fellow of the American College of Governance Counsel. He is also a frequent speaker at conferences relating to mergers and acquisitions, and has guest lectured at the McGill University Faculty of Law, the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, and the IBA Mergers & Acquisitions Conference in New York; and was the co-author of the Canada chapter of the International Mergers & Acquisitions Review for 10 years. Among his community involvement, Mr. Pressman currently serves on the Board of the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital Foundation.

    • M3-Brigade Acquisition III Corp. in its US$950 million business combination with Greenfire Resources Inc.
    • VAALCO Energy in its US$307 million business combination with TransGlobe Energy.
    • LifeWorks Inc. in its $2.9 billion acquisition by TELUS Corporation.
    • Shopify Founder and CEO, Tobi Lütke, in his proposal to modernize the company’s governance and multi-class share capital structure.
    • The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. in its controlling interest in DECIEM Beauty Group Inc.
    • Drax Group plc in its acquisition of Pinnacle Renewable Energy.
    • KingSett Capital in its sale of VersaCold Logistics to TorQuest Partners.
    • KingSett Capital in its $4.9 billion acquisition, with Starlight Investments, of Northview Apartment REIT.
    • TD Securities, independent banker and valuator to the Board of Directors of HBC, in its $2 billion management buy-out.
    • Entertainment One in its US$4 billion acquisition by Hasbro.
    • Vector Capital in its sale of Corel Corporation to KKR.
    • Constellation Brands in connection with Canopy Growth’s right to acquire Acreage Holdings.
    • Constellation Brands in its $5 billion strategic and transformative investment in Canopy Growth.
    • Special Committee of Lithium Americas in its joint venture with Ganfeng Lithium.
    • South32 in its $2.1 billion acquisition of Arizona Mining.
    • Blackstone Property Partners in its $3.8 billion acquisition of Pure Industrial Real Estate Trust.
    • Constellation Brands in its initial strategic investment in Canopy Growth Corporation.
    • Vector Capital in its sale of 20-20 Technologies to Golden Gate Capital.
    • Canadian counsel to WS Atkins plc in its $3.6 billion acquisition by SNC-Lavalin.
    • Constellation Brands in the $1.03 billion sale of its Canadian wine business to Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.
    • Canadian counsel to Asciano Ltd. in the $12 billion acquisition by the Qube Consortium and the Brookfield Consortium.
    • Special Committee of the Board of Directors of Fairfax Financial in its dual class share capital reorganization.
    • Special Committee of the Board of Directors of Lithium Americas in its all-stock merger with Western Lithium.
    • The ADT Corporation in its $555 million acquisition of Reliance Protectron from Alinda Capital.
    • Shoppers Drug Mart in its $12.4 billion acquisition by Loblaw Companies Limited.
    • KingSett Capital in the negotiated resolution of the proxy contest involving InnVest REIT.
    • Smoothwater Capital in its proxy contest with Genesis Land Development Corp. and in the ultimate settlement of that contest.
    • KingSett Capital in its take-over bid for Primaris Retail REIT and, ultimately, $5.0 billion friendly plan of arrangement with H&R REIT and Primaris.
    • Vector Capital in its acquisition of 20-20 Technologies Inc.
    • Shoppers Drug Mart in its acquisition of Paragon Pharmacies.
    • Special Committee of the Board of Directors of Lakeside Steel in its sale to JMC Steel.
    • Walter Energy in its $3.3 billion acquisition of Western Coal Corp.
    • Magna International in its dual class share capital reorganization.
    • United Natural Foods in its acquisition of the SunOpta distribution group.
    • Vector Capital in its take-over bid to privatize Corel Corporation.
    • Magna International in its US$1.5 billion private placement and substantial stock buy-back by way of Dutch auction.
    • Magna Entertainment in its proposed restructuring transactions with its controlling shareholder, MI Developments (pre and post Chapter 11 filings under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code).
    • Special Committee of the Board of Directors of Four Seasons Hotels in the US$3.7 billion going private transaction by Kingdom Hotels and Cascade Investment (investment arm of Bill Gates).
    • INCO in its contested take-over bid for Falconbridge and its responses to the bids made for it by Teck Resources and Vale.
    • Fraser Francis Ltd. in its $436 million sale of Trader Media Corp. to Yellow Pages Group.
    • Magna International in its $1.2 billion going private transactions of its publicly traded subsidiaries, Tesma, Decoma and Intier Automotive.
    • Eimskip in its $1.2 billion take-over bid for Versacold Income Fund.
    • Moore Wallace Inc. in its US$2.8 billion business combination with R.R. Donnelley & Sons.
    • Banca Intesa S.p.A. in its auction and sale of Intesa Bank Canada to HSBC Bank Canada.
    • E.I. duPont in its $1.5 billion privatization of Dupont Canada Inc.

  • IFLR 1000 Canada Awards: Recognized as M&A Lawyer of the Year
  • Canadian Lawyer: Named "Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers in Canada: Business"
  • Chambers Canada: Ranked in Corporate/Commercial (Ontario) (Band 1)
  • Chambers Global: Ranked in Corporate/M&A
  • The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory: Mergers & Acquisitions; Toronto’s best mergers and acquisition lawyers in 2021; Corporate Commercial Law; Corporate Finance & Securities; Corporate Mid-Market
  • The Lexpert/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada: Corporate Commercial Law, Corporate Finance & Securities; Corporate Mid-Market; Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Best Lawyers: Ranked in Mergers & Acquisitions Law; Corporate Law; "Lawyer of the Year", Corporate Law (2023)
  • Legal 500: Ranked in Corporate and M&A
  • IFLR1000: Ranked in Market Leader, M&A
  • Who’s Who Legal: Ranked in Global Leader - M&A; Corporate Governance; M&A (Canada)
  • Thomson Reuters: "Stand-out Lawyer"

  • Canadian Bar Association
  • Ontario Bar Association
  • Law Society of Ontario

  • The Mergers & Acquisitions Review: Canada, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th  and 9th Editions.
  • The International Comparative Legal Guide to: Mergers & Acquisitions 2014, Canada chapter (this article first appeared in the eighth edition of The International Comparative Legal Guide to: Mergers & Acquisitions; published by Global Legal Group Ltd, London, www.iclg.co.uk).
  • Developments in Canadian Poison Pill Jurisprudence, Osler Capital Markets Review, January 2012.
  • Key Lessons from the Magna Decision, Osler Corporate Review, September 2012.
  • The OSC’s Recent Decision in MI Developments Inc. Highlights Related Party Transaction Rules For Public Companies in Canada, Osler Corporate Review, March 2010.
  • New TSX Rule Mandating Buy-Side Shareholder Vote in Dilutive Public Company Acquisitions Takes Effect Today, Osler Update, November 24, 2009.
  • TSX Amends Financial Hardship Exemption from Securityholder Approval Requirements, Osler Corporate Review, October 1, 2009.
  • The OSC Decision in Neo Material Technologies Inc.: A Significant Change in the Treatment of Poison Pills in Canada, Osler Update, September 21, 2009.
  • Profound Energy Decision Highlights Use of Private Placements in M&A Transactions, Osler Update, August 17, 2009.
  • A Canadian Understanding of Directors’ Duties, The Globe and Mail, January 6, 2009 (co-authored with Jeremy Fraiberg).