For the past three years, we have acted on more income fund and REIT public offerings than any other Canadian law firm, making us the first choice for national and cross-border income trust and REIT transactions.

Our practice is comprised of lawyers who are experts in mergers & acquisitions, securities, trust, and tax law across Canada and abroad. Some significant transactions in which Stikeman Elliott has been recently involved include:

REITs

Stikeman Elliott has acted on many of the major REIT M&A transactions in Canada:

• Sunrise REIT, in connection with a $1.1 billion acquisition bid by Ventas Inc.;
  
  
• Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust's (CAP REIT) acquisition of Residential Equities REIT, creating one of Canada's largest REITs with a portfolio of almost $2 billion of multi-unit residential real estate properties;
  
  
• ING Real Estate in its $3.3 billion offer to acquire Summit REIT; and
  
  
• BPO Properties (Brookfield Properties Corp.), Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and a third institutional shareholder in a $2 billion deal led by Brascan Corp. to acquire O&Y Properties Corp. and O&Y Real Estate Investment Trust.

Income Trusts

• BCE Inc.'s sale of its regional telecom operations to the Bell Aliant Regional Communication Income Fund;
  
  
• Lakeport Brewing Income Fund $201 million sale to Labatt Brewing Co. Ltd.;
  
  
• Harbinger Capital Partners $831 million unsolicited bid for Calpine Power Income Fund, the first unsolicited bid from a U.S. private fund for a Canadian income fund since October 2006 announcement;
  
  
• Agrium Inc.'s $325 million unsolicited bid for all of the outstanding IDSs of Royster Clark Ltd., Canada's first hostile IDS income fund M&A transaction;
  
  
• Livingston International Income Fund US$154 million unsolicited bid for all of the outstanding units of PBB Global Logistics Income Fund, Canada's first business income fund-to-fund hostile M&A transaction; and
  
  
• Yellow Pages Income Fund in Canada's largest income fund initial public offering and subsequent offerings.
  
  

Working with companies and their audit and financial advisors, our lawyers have advised a broad spectrum of industry groups; including energy and natural resources, real estate and hospitality, media and telecommunications, technology, customs brokerage, manufacturing, restaurants and forest products. We have acted as well for lending institutions in their provision of credit facilities to income trust structures and have advised borrowers in the same context.

Our lawyers are sought-after for their expertise at income trust and REIT conferences and are widely-published in the area.

Recent Group Activities

Income Trust Conversion Guide
Stikeman Elliott has released its Income Trust Conversion Guide, discussing issues for income trusts such as the newly proposed conversion rules.

Toronto lawyer co-authors book
Simon Romano, a partner in our Income Trust and REIT Group, co-authored a book titled Canadian Income Funds (Wiley: 2004), an authoritative guide on the relatively new, complex and rapidly evolving market for Canadian income trusts, royalty trusts and real estate investment trusts.