David B. Tennant

Biography

Mr. Tennant’s main practice is the area of securities law, with a focus on mergers and acquisitions. He is a former national practice group leader of the firm’s business law group and a former co-head of our mergers and acquisitions practice. He is the partner responsible for co-ordinating the firm's relationships with US law firms. Mr. Tennant also serves on the firm’s board of partners. He has acted as lead counsel for Fairfax Financial Holdings for many of its acquisitions or investments, including its acquisition of PetHealth Inc. and its investments in BlackBerry and several other companies. He also acted for Torstar Corporation in its sale of Harlequin to News Corporation and the management of Vision 7 in the purchase of it by BlueFocus. He also acted as lead counsel for Leon’s Furniture Limited in its acquisition of The Brick Ltd., OMERS Private Equity and Berkshire Partners in their acquisition of Husky Injection Molding, Borealis Infrastructure Management Inc. in its successful unsolicited take-over bid for Teranet Income Fund, Stelco Inc. in its sale to US Steel Corp. and for GE in both acquisitions and divestitures of Canadian assets. He also acted as lead counsel for Canadian Tire in the establishment by it of gasoline service stations along Ontario's 400 series highways and as lead Canadian counsel for Chrysler Canada Inc. in connection with the restructuring of its parent Chrysler LLC several years ago. He has also acted on a number of proxy battles, for both dissident shareholders and defending boards, and is securities law counsel for several of our public company clients, providing guidance on board and governance matters. During his career with the firm, Mr. Tennant has been seconded to the Ontario Securities Commission and has lectured on corporate finance and securities laws, including at Osgoode Hall Law School. He also serves on the boards of several corporations, including as Chairman of Major Drilling Group International Inc., the world’s largest mineral drilling company by market capitalization. Mr. Tennant appears as a leading lawyer in the 2017 edition of Chambers Global: The World’s Leading Lawyers for Business in corporate M&A, and in the 2018 edition of Chambers Canada in the area of corporate/commercial (Ontario). He is listed in the current edition of the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory as a leading lawyer in the areas of M&A, corporate mid-market, corporate commercial law, and private equity. He is also listed in the Best Lawyers in Canada in the areas of corporate and M&A law, and in Who's Who Legal: Canada in the area of corporate. Mr. Tennant received his B. Mathematics from the University of Waterloo, and his Masters of Business Administration and LLB from the University of Western Ontario. He was called to the Ontario bar in 1984.

Research Interest

Business