About

Responsible for the Canadian legal operations of the Botox-manufacturer Allergan, Jim Willoughby has recently distinguished himself with his work on the company’s efforts to fight off a US$53bn hostile takeover bid jointly launched by Quebec-based Valeant Pharmaceuticals and activist shareholder Bill Ackman. Seven months later, Allergan was sold to UK-based Actavis for an improved value of US$66bn, making it one of the biggest M&A deals in 2014 and the largest pharmaceutical deal in a decade. Willoughby’s contribution to the successful outcome of the takeover has been immense, orchestrating everything from crisis management to dealing with competition, tax and securities issues. In charge of a lean legal team that supervises all affairs across Canada, Willoughby favours a flexible and cross-functional approach to legal work. Prior to joining Allergan, Willoughby worked at Roche/Genentech as general counsel and before that at the intellectual property firm Gowling Lafleur Henderson.