Partner

Étienne Brassard is a partner at Lavery and a member of the firm’s Board of Directors. He practices business law, more specifically corporate financing, mergers and acquisitions and corporate law. In his practice, he advises local and international businesses in relation to all forms of private financing, from traditional or convertible debt to equity investments.

Education

• Financial Accounting Program, London School of Economics and Political Science, 2010
• LL.M. (recipient of the Aubrey-Vincent-Senez Scholarship), Université de Montréal/China University of Political Science and Law, 2007
• LL.B.,Université de Montréal, 2006

He has thus developed extensive expertise in setting up complex financing structures, in both operational and transactional contexts. As such, he regularly acts as legal counsel for major financial institutions or groups of borrowers in connection with their financing in Canada, the United States and Europe. He also advises companies involved in mezzanine loans and venture capital investments.

Étienne has participated in the development and implementation of many complex investment structures affecting various economic sectors and regularly assists leaders in the fields of real estate development and management, aeronautics and technology.

He also represents entrepreneurs in all aspects of their growth and partnerships, advising them on their corporate structure, governance, and strategic issues, in particular. Mr. Brassard assists his clients as they grow their businesses, right through to their liquidity event.

His services are regularly solicited by foreign entrepreneurs or investors wishing to establish themselves in Canada. Étienne has acquired specific experience in this area and can identify the challenges facing businesses interested in entering the Quebec market, regardless of their preferred route (acquisition, joint venture, creating a subsidiary, distribution agreement, etc.). He can call on the help of his vast business network (bankers, financial advisors, tax specialists and accountants) that he has built as a result of his previous mandates.

Mr. Brassard also assists entrepreneurs with high growth potential with their financing and partnerships and advises them on their corporate structure and strategic issues specific to their industry.

Representative mandates

Real estate financing and transactions

• Representation in the acquisition of the approximately 1.2 million sq. ft. site of the former Molson Brewery located in Old Montréal, the negotiation of the consortium and the financing of the transaction, recognized by the M&A Club as the Deal of the Year for Quebec.
• Representation in the establishment of a consortium for the construction, development and ownership of Espace Montmorency, Laval’s largest mixed-use real estate project of approximately 1.3 million sq. ft.,worth nearly $500 million.
• Representation of a client for the construction financing and syndicated long-term loan in connection with the new Maison de Radio-Canada.
• Representation of Desjardins, Ressources Québec and Investissement Québec in setting up financing of nearly $50 million for a project to support the construction and long-term production and export operations of a wood pellet plant producing wood pellets from forest biomass with a 200,000-tonne annual capacity.
• Representation of Groupe Sélection in the negotiation and implementation of various partnership, development and management agreements with Revera, Blackstone, Fonds Immobilier FTQ, Montoni and Fiera, among others, in the context of their Quebec retirement home portfolios (more than 14,000 doors), valued at more than CA$5 billion, for nearly 10 years.
• Representation of a borrower in the establishment of credit facilities relating to the construction of a 25 MW hydroelectric project in the Côte-Nord region, worth nearly $75 million.

Aeronautical financing and transactions

• Representation of financing and leasing companies in setting up financing and leasing structures in commercial aviation, in particular for:
  • Four Airbus 330-200 operated by Air Transat
  • Four Boeing 767-300 operated by Cargojet
  • Four Lockheed Martin F-16A operated by Top Aces
  • Five Bombardier CRJ 700 operated by Jazz Aviation
  • Ten BAE Jetstream32 operated by Pascan Aviation
• Recent intervention in several business aviation transactions involving acquisitions or financing of the following aircraft:
  • Seven Bombardier Challenger (300, 350, 604 or 605)
  • Eight Bombardier Global (XRS, 5000, 6000 or 7000)
  • Two Dassault Falcon 2000
  • Three Gulfstream (G100, G450, G500 or G550)
  • Ten Pilatus (PC-12 or PC-24)
  • Two Airbus Helicopter H145
  • Four BK-117
  • Five Robinson (R44 ou R66)
• Representation of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec in its investment in a round of financing of nearly $100 million in Top Aces Inc., a company specializing in air combat training, to support its international expansion and enable it to acquire 29 new F-16A aircraft from Lockheed Martin.
• Representation of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec in creating a global aircraft investment platform of US$2 billion called Einn Volant Aircraft Leasing (EVAL), in collaboration with GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS).
• Representation of Héroux-Devtek Inc. in the financing of the acquisition of UK-based APPH Limited and US-based APPH Wichita, Inc., subsidiaries of BBA Aviation plc, an acquisition worth nearly CA$128 million.
• Acts as an administrator with the International Registry under the Cape Town Convention for several of our clients’Transacting User Entities (TUE).

Venture capital funding and start-ups

• Representation of Talent.com (formerly Neuvoo) in the implementation of its Series A round of financing by the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, worth $53 million, and its $30 million overdraft facility related to its Series B round of financing by BMO.
• Representation of a health tech company in connection with its Series B and C rounds of financing by U.S. and Canadian venture capital funds, worth $63 million.
• Representation of Netlift in its multiple rounds of seed financing totalling nearly $4 million withInvestissement Québec, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Sustainable Development Technology Canada, Cycle Capital, BDC Capital and other venture capital funds and angel investors.

Acquisitions and sales

• Representation of Oliva Capital in a series of acquisitions and partnerships in various fields, including technology and agriculture.
• Representation of the shareholders of Agile MV, a Montréal-based medical device design and development contract manufacturing company, when it was sold to Resonetics.
• Representation of Hydroserre Mirabel in its acquisition of Serres Lefort (now known as Gen V).

External publications and papers

• “Aviation finance in Canada: overview,” Practical Law’s Aviation Finance Global Guide, 2016
• “Early-Growth Financing and Capital Structure: Guiding Your Company to the Next Level” Corporate Counsel Directory and Yearbook, 15^th Edition, 2016
• “Dispositions applicables à toutes les hypothèques,” in JurisClasseur Québec - Sûretés, “Droit civil” collection, LexisNexis Canada, updated annually

Professional and community activities

• The Canadian Finance & Leasing Association
• Coach and volunteer business advisor for start-up entrepreneurs with Info Entrepreneurs (Canada Business Network) (2009-2017)
• Coach and business advisor for the Parcours entrepreneurial Rémi-Marcoux at HEC Montréal (2014-2018)

• Rising Star 2018
• Best Lawyers 2021
• Best Lawyers 2022
• Lexpert 2022
• Lexpert
• Best Lawyers 2024

• Four Lavery Lawyers Write a Guide to Aviation Finance in Canada

  By Étienne Brassard |August 2016

• When it becomes necessary to revoke the appointment of an inspector to ensure the proper functioning of the proposal or bankruptcy process
• What happens when a contract does not reflect what was agreed upon between the parties?
• Legal newsletter for business entrepreneurs and executives, Number 12
• The Court of Appeal clarifies the legal nature of a real guarantee
• Canadian ratification of the Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment and of the Protocol to the Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment on Matters Specific to Aircraft Equipment
• Equity crowdfunding - The Autorité des marchés financiers adopts a new prospectus exemption for startups
• The Cape Town Convention and the Evolution of the International Registry: Adapting to the Transactional Context of Aircraft Financing and Leasing
• Crowdfunding: Enhanced capital raising opportunities for startups