Stikeman Elliott also assists in deal between Telus and Lifeworks
Stikeman Elliott was involved in two big deals this week, including TELUS Corporation’s $2.9-billion acquisition of Lifeworks. Clifford Chance and Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt also advised the TELUS deal, while Fasken Martineau DuMoulin and Kirkland & Ellis joined Stikeman as legal counsel to a strategic investment deal involving Harbourfront Group and US-based Audax Private Equity.
Harbourfront Group draws investment from US-based Audax Private Equity
The Harbourfront Group of Companies, an independent wealth management and financial planning advisory firm with 23 branches across Canada, announced a strategic investment from US-based alternative investment manager Audax Private Equity, valuing Harbourfront at $425 million enterprise value.
Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP served as legal counsel to Harbourfront, with a team consisting of Jon Conlin, Gary Ott, Steven Lumbala, Nicole Park, Karen Yao, Maurice Wong, Taylor West, Fatima Husnain, Michael Coburn, Brock Euper, and Garth Foster. Raymond James Ltd acted as Harbourfront’s financial advisor.
Stikeman Elliott LLP and Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal counsel to Audax, with Ardea Partners LP as financial advisor.
Stikeman Elliott’s team consisted of John Leopold, Warren Silversmith, Jeremy Sculnick, Helia Taheri, Jeff Elliott, Howard Rosenoff, and Frank Mathieu.
Harbourfront CEO Danny Popescu said, “The nine-figure equity investment by Audax in our company provides validation that Harbourfront’s business formula is disrupting the independent investment dealer space in Canada. The partnership with Audax will accelerate our company’s organic growth plus better position us to grow by acquisition. Over the past eight years, we’ve changed the lives of our clients and today, we’re rewarding the advisors who took the leap and joined us. Our strategic partnership with Audax will allow us to do more of the same but on an even bigger scale.”
Audax Managing Director Bill Allen said, “We are thrilled to partner with Danny and the entire Harbourfront team. The Company has earned its reputation as one of the leading independent advisory firms in Canada for both advisors and clients alike by combining a best-in-class team with the highest quality service level and product offering. Harbourfront is the ideal platform for Audax to support as the company executes on its aggressive growth plans in Canada.”
TELUS acquires LifeWorks for $2.9 billion to boost workforce healthcare
TELUS Corporation agreed to acquire employee support consultancy LifeWorks Inc. – which was previously called Morneau Shepell – for $2.9 billion. Combined, TELUS Health and LifeWorks cover over 50 million people in more than 160 countries.
Stikeman Elliott LLP and Clifford Chance LLP served as legal counsel to TELUS, with CIBC World Markets as financial advisor.
Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP served as legal counsel to LifeWorks, with a team consisting of Emmanuel Pressman, Kai Sheffield, Michael Innes, Lynne Lacoursière, Andrew MacDougall, Emery White, Douglass Dawson, Shuli Rodal, Gajan Sathananthan, Damian Rigolo, Andrea Boctor, Jonathan Wypych, Drew Morier, and Taylor Cao. BMO Capital Markets and Goldman Sachs Canada Inc. acted as LifeWorks’s financial advisors.
“The combination of TELUS Health and LifeWorks represents an unmatched opportunity to create a leader in employer-focused primary and preventative digital healthcare and wellness solutions on a global basis,” LifeWorks President and CEO Stephen Liptrap said. “Together, we will accelerate our shared vision of empowering individuals to live their healthiest lives by unifying the continuum of care through digital-first innovations, as well as our unmatched in-person care.”
“We look forward to welcoming LifeWorks employees and customers into our TELUS Health family,” said TELUS President and CEO Darren Entwistle. “At TELUS Health, our mission is predicated on the belief that we can build a healthier future for people around the world by leveraging the power of technology, in combination with our caring culture, to promote collaboration and efficiency, and create better health experiences across the entire health ecosystem. This is particularly crucial in the post-pandemic era, where employers and their employees are struggling with mental health and well-being concerns. In this regard, our combined organizations, guided by a shared set of values, will provide employers with simple, convenient and effective, data-driven primary and preventive care solutions for employees and their families to proactively manage their health and wellness, including their mental health, so that they can lead their healthiest and most productive professional and personal lives.”
The transaction is expected to close later this year or in the first quarter of 2023.
Recurrent Energy buys two energy storage projects from Texas-based BMES
Canadian Solar Inc. subsidiary Recurrent Energy, LLC. announced the acquisition of two standalone energy storage projects from Black Mountain Energy Storage (BMES).
Currently under development, both projects are in the South Load Zone of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc. (ERCOT) market and are anticipated to begin operations in the second quarter of 2024.
Canadian Solar chairman and CEO Dr. Shawn Qu said, "ERCOT is one of the fastest growing markets in the world for energy storage, driven by market demand for flexible capacity. We are pleased to accelerate our ERCOT storage pipeline with the acquisition of two projects totaling 400 MWh of storage from Black Mountain Energy Storage. We look forward to bringing our storage development, financing and construction experience to bear as we bring these projects to fruition and increase grid reliability for Texans."
BMES Director of Corporate Development Witt Duncan said, "We ought to see pronounced volatility at these nodes for years to come, and these batteries will not only capture significant value but provide resiliency in a sparse region of ERCOT's transmission network. We're excited to see Recurrent Energy take each of these projects into the next phase of development.”
