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Bruce McNeely

Bruce McNeely’s initial professional training was as an economist and mathematician at Queen’s University. This led to a short career as an economist with the federal public service followed by law school at the University of Ottawa and over 35 years of practice as a corporate-commercial lawyer in downtown Toronto. Bruce enjoys the practice of law.

Bruce has had extensive experience throughout his career in negotiating and closing merger and acquisition transactions. Recent transactions include:

• Acquisition by U.S. specialty aluminium fabricator of a complementary business in Ontario using an Alberta ULC structure
• Developing a unique contractual approach to settle a complex parallel interest investment in a commercial arrangement between two sophisticated business parties
• Acting as principal client lawyer in successfully effecting a public auction in the face of a highly restrictive controlling shareholders agreement, which resulted in a significant Ontario Court of Appeal judgement

As an energy lawyer, Bruce has acted for all levels of government and for private and public energy participants with a focus on energy projects. Recent transactions include:

• Acting for a significant wind power generator in a series of transactions, including both project specific financing projects and use of short-term loan arrangement as a bridge to facilitate a potential equity investor in a project pending completion of final due diligence
• Acting for the Ontario Ministry of Finance in drafting the trust agreement and other arrangements under which Ontario’s principal nuclear power generator will meet its nuclear fuel management and decommissioning obligations set out in licences issued under the Nuclear Fuel Waste Act (Canada)
• Acting for the Ontario Attorney General in completing the organization of the Ontario Power Authority and constitution of its board
• Acting for the City of Toronto in certain of the negotiations regarding the restructuring of Toronto Hydro
• Successfully acting against British Energy (BE) and for BE’s other limited partner in BE’s attempt to include the Ontario assets of the limited partnership in BE’s restructuring

As a lending lawyer, Bruce has acted for a broad range of senior lenders and borrowers with particular emphasis on credit and priority agreements, personal property security issues and opinions. Recent transactions include:

• Acting for one of Canada’s NHL franchises to effect an innovative financing arrangement
• Acting for a major Canadian Bank in respect of bridge loans made to private equity entities for acquisitions in a variety of industries with conventional credit facilities to the operating businesses on closing

Bruce was part of the Cassels Brock team that acted for the Federal Government of Canada, through Industry Canada, in connection with the court-supervised sale of both General Motors and Chrysler. The transaction involved over US$12.5 billion of new Canadian Government financing and included a host of extremely time-sensitive issues, including cross-border bankruptcy, M&A, financing and litigation. The successful resolution allowed both automakers to maintain production share in the North American market and saved thousands of jobs.

Interested in helping clients achieve their objectives beyond Toronto, Bruce has for more than a decade acted as Cassels Brock’s representative in its various affiliations across Canada and in the United States and Mexico. His interest in international law led Bruce to participate in the deliberations of the U.N. UNCITRAL Committee charged with developing a proposed international convention on the assignment of receivables.

Bruce has always been an active legal writer. Recent publications include the firm’s Carrying on Business in Canada publication, and commentary regarding recent changes in limitations law and the implications arising from the Limitations Act, 2002 (Ontario), Securities Transfer Act, 2006 (Ontario) and changes to the obligations of consumer product supply chain participants once the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act comes into force in 2010.

Education

LL.B., University of Ottawa, 1972
B.A., Queens University, 1967

Achievements

• Martindale-Hubbell, BV Distinguished™ rating

Call to the bar

Ontario, 1974

Associations

• American Bar Association
• Canadian Bar Association
• The Canadian Counsel for Public-Private Partnerships
• International Bar Association
• Ontario Bar Association

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