Gilles Leclerc

Gilles Leclerc is a senior partner whose practice focuses on securities law, mergers and acquisitions and corporate law. He joined the Montréal office of Fasken Martineau in 1999.

In recent years, Gilles has actively participated in a number of major capital market transactions, including the Rogers/Caisse/Videotron acquisition (telecom), the restructuring of Cascades Inc. (pulp and paper), the restructuring of Telesystem International Wireless (telecom) and its privatization and liquidation via arrangement, the restructuring of the activities of S.R. Telecom, the initial public offerings of RONA (retailer), Capital Desjardins (financial institution), Atrium Biotechnologies and Miranda Technologies (telecom) and has acted for the syndicate of underwriters in numerous offerings by Yellow Pages Income Fund and its subsidiary YPG Holdings. He has also acted for the independent committee in the Molson/Coors transaction (retailer), the privatization of the Bell Nordiq Income Fund (telecom) and the Alexis Nihon Real Estate Investment Trust and the arrangement of Groupe Laperrière & Verreault (industrial processes) under which a substantial portion of its assets were sold to a Danish entity.

Gilles acted as leader of the securities and M&A practice group for the Québec region of the firm from 1999 to 2004, and is currently a member of the Securities Advisory Committee to the Autorité des marchés financiers.

Gilles has lectured in securities law at the law school of Laval University since 1992, has authored a report on the Tunisian financial market for the World Bank, has been a conference speaker as part of CIDA program on the development of financial markets in Vietnam, and has published various legal articles on private placements and takeover bids. He also developed a securities law course program for a major legal conference organizer in Québec. He is a regular speaker on various securities laws and M&A topics and has lectured on corporate governance and directors duties and liabilities at the College for Corporate Directors.

Gilles has a dual Canadian and French citizenship.

Selected Experience

• Industrial Alliance closes common share and preferred share offerings for proceeds of $200 million
• Groupe Aeroplan closes $167.1 million offering of cumulative rate reset preferred shares

Publications

• Canadian Securities Administrators announce amendments to National Instrument 51-102 Continuous Disclosure Obligations
• Exempted distributions under Instruments 45-106 and 45-102 (Placements dispensés selon les Normes 45-106 et 45-102)

Presentations

• Fasken Martineau Symposium
• Third Advanced Forum on Securities

Membership/Affiliations

• Québec Bar
• Canadian Bar Association