Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP

Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP remains a market leader, pairing the bench strength of offices in Toronto, Montreal and New York with the experience of its team to advise major public and private companies, pension funds, private equity firms and financial sponsors involved in high-value, multi-jurisdictional transactions. Acting for such key market players as the Barrick Gold Corporation and the Blackstone Group, the practice’s client roster spans such sectors as mining, telecoms, energy, life sciences, financial services and retail. The group is headed in Toronto by transactional authority Vincent Mercier, who assists bidders, target boards and special committees, including on proxy contests; Patricia Olasker, an expert in friendly and unsolicited M&A and shareholder activism; mining industry specialist Melanie Shishler, who handles public company M&A, private asset acquisitions and dispositions, and complex private equity investment transactions; and by Franziska Ruf in Montreal, who brings expertise to M&A, private equity, corporate governance, capital markets and securities matters. In Toronto, Aaron Atkinson specializes in major transactions, along with Brett Seifred, who acts for clients across such industries as telecoms, food services and entertainment.