
Overview
Neill May is a partner, a member of the Executive Committee and a former Co-Chair of the Corporate Securities Group at Goodmans. His practice focuses on all aspects of securities law, with a particular emphasis on mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance. Neill has developed a reputation for expertise in securities law and for his ability to negotiate and complete complex and innovative transactions.
Neill has counselled participants in numerous public and private M&A transactions and has represented clients on both sides of friendly and hostile takeover bids. He has also structured and implemented a vast range of corporate reorganizations and financing transactions, including domestic and cross-border public offerings, and private strategic and venture capital financings.
Neill is recognized by The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory as most frequently recommended in corporate finance & securities, M&A, corporate commercial, corporate mid-market and private equity and repeatedly recommended for mining law. He has also been recommended by The Lexpert/ALM Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada (M&A, private equity, corporate finance, corporate commercial and corporate mid-market), Chambers Global (corporate/M&A), Chambers Canada (corporate/commercial), Euromoney’s Guide to the World’s Leading M&A Lawyers, IFLR 1000 (M&A), Who's Who Legal (capital markets & thought leader in M&A), The Legal 500 Canada (M&A), Best Lawyers in Canada (corporate, leveraged buyouts & private equity, M&A, mining, natural resources and securities,) and as a leading practitioner in the Lexpert Special Edition: Finance and M&A, and Lexpert Special Edition: Global Mining.
Featured Work
Neill’s recent representative work includes acting for:
- A consortium led by Northern Private Capital, an investment firm led by John Risley and Andrew Lapham, in its $1 billion acquisition of MDA, Canada’s leading space company, from Maxar Technologies, and the subsequent IPO of MDA
- Newmont Mining Corporation in its acquisition of Goldcorp Inc., its Nevada and Galore Creek joint ventures, and in various investments and divestments including Continental Gold Inc., Evrim Resources Corp., Irving Resources Inc., Maverix Metals Inc., Orosur Mining Inc., TMAC Resources Inc. and Red Lake Mines
- Clairvest Group Inc. and its managed funds in their investments through NovaSource Power Services in the solar O&M businesses of Sunpower Corporation and First Solar, Inc., their investments in SST Solar Holdings, Inc., Power Overhaul LLC and Digital Media Solutions, LLC, their divestment of Lyophilization Services of New England, Inc., their investment in and divestment of Cieslok Media Ltd. and Also Energy Inc., and the sale by their subsidiary Discovery Air Inc. of its fire services division
- Brookfield Asset Management Inc. in connection with its investments in Superior Plus Corp. and Chorus Aviation Inc.
- Power Corporation of Canada in connection with the proposed reorganization pursuant to which it would acquire 100% common share ownership of Power Financial Corporation
- Evergreen Coast Capital in its investments in Coveo Solutions, Inc.
- Abrams Capital Management and its affiliates in connection with its role as part of the shareholder group proposing to privatize Hudson’s Bay Company.
- Anchorage Capital Group, L.L.C. and JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. in their financing of Resolve-Class Naval Support Ship, m/v Asterix
- Cinram International Inc. in its sale to Najafi Companies
- Iovate Health Sciences International Inc. in its sale to Xiwang Foodstuffs Co., Ltd.
- CML HealthCare Inc. in its sale by way of plan of arrangement to LifeLabs Ontario Inc.
- L’Oréal USA and its affiliates in their acquisitions of three consumer brands from Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. (now Bausch Health Companies Inc.) and in their investment in Functionalab Group
Awards & Recognition
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Chambers Canada Band 1, Corporate/Commercial Ontario 2023
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The Legal 500 Canada Leading Individual, Corporate and M&A 2023
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Lexpert/American Lawyer Media Guide Most Frequently Recommended, Corporate Commercial Law, Corporate Finance & Securities, Corporate Mid-Market, Mergers & Acquisitions 2023
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Best Lawyers in Canada Recognized: Corporate Law, Leveraged Buyouts and Private Equity Law, Mergers and Acquisitions Law, Mining Law, Natural Resources Law 2023
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Who's Who Legal Recommended National Leader, Capital Markets and M&A 2022
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The Legal 500 Canada Leading Individual, Corporate Mergers and Acquisitions 2022
Credentials
Professional Involvement
Education
- University of Toronto, LL.B., 1990
Professional Affiliations
- Law Society of Ontario
Call to Bar
- Ontario
Insights
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Mergers and Acquisitions
A Deep Dive Into the Threatened Litigation Between Twitter and Elon Musk and its Relevance to M&A, Canadian Lawyer
While it may be moot, the case highlighted fundamental issues for mergers and acquisitions… -
Mergers and Acquisitions
Shadow Insider Trading in the Light, Canadian Lawyer
When we learned about insider trading in law school, the threshold question – unsurprising, given the Socratic environment – was whether insider trading should be regulated at all… -
Mergers and Acquisitions
Sandbagging: When parties to M&A deals press their advantage by exaggerating their weaknesses, Canadian Lawyer
In M&A negotiations the concept of “sandbagging” arises so frequently that one wishes that the term had a more exotic or entertaining origin… -
Mining
2022 Federal Budget: Government Supports Critical Mineral Projects in Canada
The 2022 federal budget (the “Budget”) commits significant funding and proposes far-reaching measures to boost the development of Canada’s mining industry for critical minerals that are essential to… -
Capital Markets
CSA Introduces Well-Known Seasoned Issuer Program
The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) announced changes to allow large, well-known Canadian reporting issuers, referred to as well-known seasoned issuers (WKSIs), to file a base shelf… -
Employment, Pensions and Executive Compensation
Restricting restrictive covenants, Canadian Lawyer
The term “non-compete” has always conjured painful memories for me of my convincing ineptitude at most sports…
News & Events
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Goodmans Recognized in the 2023 Lexpert/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada
We are delighted to announce that The Lexpert/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada once again features Goodmans in their 2023 Guide.The Lexpert/ALM 500 Directory, produced in… -
Banking and Financial Services
The Legal 500 Canada Continues to Recognize Goodmans with Top Tier Rankings
We are pleased to announce Goodmans LLP has once again received top tier recognition from The Legal 500 Canada in their 2023 Guide released today. Recognition from The Legal 500 is based on… -
Goodmans Lawyers Named Across 2022 Expert Guides
We are pleased to share Goodmans lawyers have been recognized across several Expert Guides 2022 editions. Recognition from Expert Guides is based on peer review, and demonstrates our lawyers…