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opinion EDITOR ' S DESK BY GAIL J. COHEN deal." There was still an outside chance that Hershey of the United States and Italy's Ferrero would make a bid for Cadbury but the sport of deal watching, in this matchup, was virtually done by the middle of January. The battle for Cadbury has been one of the few interesting and large M&A deals the sport of the deal A that's taken place over 2009. Probably the major one for a Canadian company was the three-way deal involving Calgary's Agrium Inc., CF Industries Holdings Inc., and Terra Industries Inc. At press time, this convoluted deal scenario was still not a whole lot more clear than it has been over the past months, but again is good sport for deal watchers. Those watchers, not to mention the lawyers involved in the M&A deals, have not had much to get excited about with both the number and value of global M&A deals well down in 2009. It does seem things are looking up, even in Canada which didn't have quite the same level of slowdown faced by our neighbours to the south. A group of lawyers from U.S. firm Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP was recently in Toronto to talk M&As. They noted that cross-border M&A activity, particularly by Canadian companies, was growing. In fact, the value of Canadian deals in 2009 was up 94 per cent, to $37.09 billion over 2008, according to Dealogic numbers in their presentation. The Paul Weiss team said there were concerns about a double-dip recession with consumer debt being replaced by government debt and the threat of increasing interest rates. But they were still optimistic. "There will be significant opportunities with a weak dollar to acquire pretty great assets," said partner Matthew Abbott. The big difference going forward: more care will be taken and there won't be a rush for deals to be done without due diligence, they noted. It does look like there will be some decent action on the field to keep the deal watch- ers happy and the M&A lawyers busy this year. — GAIL J. COHEN Correction: The name of the priest accused of sexually abusing two Nova Scotia boys was incor- rect in last month's cover story "Unsettled." In 2002, David Martin left behind a suicide note accusing now-deceased Cape Breton priest Allan A. MacDonald of abusing him as a child. Group Publisher: Karen Lorimer editorial Director: Gail J. Cohen staff writer: Robert Todd Copy editor: Heather Gardiner Creative Director: Einar Rice art Director: Bill Hunter account Co-ordinators: Alice Chen and Catherine Giles Contributors: Kelly Harris, Tim Shufelt Jean Sorensen, Geoff Kirbyson, donalee Moulton, Diane Cook. Canadian Lawyer is published 11 times a year by Canadian Lawyer Magazine Inc., 240 Edward St., Aurora, Ont. L4G 3S9 (905) 841- 6480 Fax: (905) 727-0017. All rights reserved. Contents may not be reprinted without written permission. The opinions expressed in articles are not necessarily those of the publisher. Information pre- sented is compiled from sources believed to be accurate, however, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions. Canadian Lawyer Magazine Inc. disclaims any warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or currency of the contents of this publica- tion and disclaims all liability in respect of the results of any action taken or not taken in reliance upon information in this publication. advertising sales representatives Legal suppliers: Kimberlee Pascoe tel: (905) 713-4342 e-mail: kpascoe@clbmedia.ca Law Firms: Karen Lorimer tel: (905) 713-4339 e-mail: klorimer@clbmedia.ca Kathy Liotta tel: (905) 713-4340 e-mail: kliotta@clbmedia.ca sales Co-ordinator: Sandy Shutt tel: (905) 713-4337 e-mail: sshutt@clbmedia.ca Canadian Lawyer Magazine Inc. President: Stuart J. 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For all circulation inquiries and address changes send a copy of your mailing label or labels along with your request in writing to Canadian Lawyer 240 Edward Street, Aurora, ON, L4G 3S9 Indexed in the Canadian Periodical Index www. C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com FEBRU AR Y 2010 3 IT Girl Sara Dale-Harris writes on technology and the law. Feb. 15 Trials & Tribulations Antonin I. Pribetic opines on issues in the world of litigation. Feb. 8 & 22 Career Path Legal recruiter Danya Cohen helps young lawyers navigate treacherous career waters. Feb. 8 Letter from Law Law Land Wit and wisdom from Vancouver's Tony Wilson. Feb. 22 More Every week, analysis and opin- ions from practitioners around the country. s I sit down to write, expectations are that British confectionary icon Cadbury PLC will be swallowed whole by Kraft Foods Inc. in an acquisition worth $19.3 billion despite Kraft's top shareholder Warren Buffett calling the takeover a "bad EXCLUSIVE ONLINE COLUMNS THIS MONTH ON Human Rights ... Here & There University of Ottawa law professor Lucie Lamarche's column on human rights and international affairs. Feb. 8 C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com WEB VIDEO News from New York's LegalTech, the biggest legal technology conference of the year. Feb. 8 WEEKLY NEWS AND NEWS UPDATES