A multi-jurisdictional Dentons team has successfully advised Canada-headquartered Bank of Montreal (BMO) as arranger on a CA$350 million loan facility.

The financing was provided by a syndicate of lenders (including BMO) to a joint venture formed between Premium Brands Holdings Corporation and a consortium of several Mi’kmaq First Nations to partly fund the acquisition of Canadian seafood company Clearwater Seafoods Incorporated (Clearwater). Valued at an estimated CA$1 billion, the acquisition of Clearwater has been described as "the single largest investment in the seafood industry by any Indigenous group in Canada," and is widely heralded as a tremendous leap forward for First Nations communities in the industry.

“With Clearwater subsidiaries located in Canada, Scotland, England, the US and Luxembourg, this transaction has provided an opportunity for our team to fully leverage Dentons’ global platform in order to support our valued client BMO,” says Jennifer Dezell, partner in the Firm’s Banking and Finance group in Vancouver. Jennifer’s co-lead on the transaction, Hugh Drummond adds, “advising on this significant deal has been a true testament to our team’s global capabilities and the breadth and depth of our service offerings across our network."

The Dentons team was led by Jennifer Dezell and Hugh Drummond in Vancouver, working closely with Susan Kelly and Sarah Dyke in the UK, Lee Smith and Richard Garvan in the US and Christophe Renaudin in Luxembourg. Vital support was provided throughout by Vincent Prager (Montréal) regarding marine matters, Mai Rempel (Vancouver – regulatory matters), Valerie Cross and Shayla Hardy (Vancouver), James Francis and Charlotte Miles (London) and Samir Younes and Kirsty Shepherd (Edinburgh).

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