Legal news and trends for Canadian in-house counsel and c-suite executives
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www.canadianlawyermag.com/inhouse 27 run into a problem," he says. The vast restructuring practice at Good- mans has been busy across the country. In Quebec last year, Goodmans assisted Cirque du Soleil in filing to restructure under CCAA in response to continued closures caused by the pandemic. In Ontario, Chadwick and his team also worked with nickel and cobalt mining company Sherritt International to restructure the business. "That was a pre-emptive transaction," says Chadwick. "We spent a lot of time with Sherritt a couple of years in advance, looking at our options and alternatives, so we were able to do a very creative and constructive transaction to allow that company to continue." The capital restructuring plan allowed the company to reduce its debt obligations by about $305 million. The team at Goodmans has also been busy working with energy and natural gas compa- nies out west, including oil and gas company Bellatrix Exploration Ltd. This was impacted by the downturn in the economy before the pandemic, resulting in a sale transaction to Return Energy Inc. "For any Canadian company that has options available, make sure you have a good handle on your liquidity because, without that liquidity, that's where companies are forced into a court filing to get emergency financing," says Chadwick. Rubin anticipates an upswing in insolven- cies as the pandemic continues. "It may be a bad time to try and sell a business or restructure a business in this current environment, so I think what we're seeing is creditors being very careful to avoid being too aggressive because the outcome may not be good for the company or its creditors or other stakeholders," says Rubin. Chadwick notes that many businesses are trying to defer insolvency as they reduce expenses and hope for better times ahead. "We will continue to be busy in the second half of the year, and we'll continue to look at alternatives for our clients," he says. "The key to having options for general counsel and for a company is to ensure that you have liquidity, so that is the fundamental driving factor for many companies." Rob Chadwick, Goodmans LLP