Stikeman Elliott LLP

Stikeman Elliott is one of six Canadian firms in the GCR 100. All told, the firm has eight equity partners and eight associates who specialise in competition. The competition practice boasts three Who's Who nominees – practice leader Paul Collins, Katherine Kay and Susan Hutton. The group grew in January when Randall Hofley returned to the firm's Ottawa office. He had been serving as special counsel to Canada's commissioner of competition in 2005 and 2006.

Stikeman Elliott LLP

This year, Stikeman Elliott worked on some of the largest and most complex deals in Canada and internationally. For example, it co-advised telecoms company Bell Canada on a C$51.7 billion takeover by a Canadian consortium – the largest private-equity deal in the country's history. It acted for Brazilian mining company Companhia Vale do Rio Doce in its US$17 billion acquisition of Canadian rival Inco. The headline-making deal was the largest purchase ever made by a Brazilian company.

Also in the mining sector, Stikeman Ellitott acted for Alcoa in its US$32 billion bid for Alcan, which was eventually withdrawn following a higher bid by Rio Tinto. The largest hostile takeover attempt in Canadian history, the deal would have created the world's largest aluminium producer. In the steel sector, meanwhile, the firm advised Mittal Steel on its US$33 billion acquisition of Arcelor.

One of the most important deals of the year in terms of Canadian competition law was Labatt's takeover of rival brewer Lakeport. Stikeman Elliott advised the latter. Canada's competition commissioner applied to put the deal on ice, as bureau staff wanted more time to review the merger. The Competition Tribunal dismissed the application.

Other deal work includes advising Reuters Founds Share Company Limited on the US$17 billion Thomson/Reuters tie-up, and acting for Bank of New York and Mellon Bank Financial in their US$16.5 billion merger.

Meanwhile, Stikeman's litigation team has advising Air Canada in connection with the global air cargo investigation and in follow-on class proceedings brought in several Canadian provinces. The firm is also representing Infineon Technologies in the first contested certification motion in a price-fixing class action in the province of British Columbia.