NOVEMBER 2016
16
INHOUSE
E
ven now, when documents cross Chris Johnston's desk, she sometimes
still sees the names "Constellation" and "Taurus" crop up. TransCanada
Corporation announced its $13-billion acquisition of Houston-based
Columbia Pipeline Group in March 2016, and as the Calgary energy fi rm's vice
president of law and corporate secretary, she had been involved from the beginning,
many months before that. Her description of the process sounds like something from a John Le Carré
novel, including a secret team that could talk about the entire negotiation only in code.
Merging with or acquiring companies in the energy sector can be diffi cult enough domestically, but
a cross-border deal like TransCanada's carries even more layers of complexity. There are regulatory
issues to consider at all levels of government, ranging from securities through to anti-trust. Some of
them are rigid and well defi ned while others are political and highly subjective. Even the best in-house
lawyer will need a team of experts behind her.
Secrecy was necessary because as with all public company cross-border acquisitions, negotiations
are sensitive. Information couldn't get out before the announcement was made. "It could potentially
throw your deal off the rails, because it could drive up the share price," she recalls.
Canadian energy
companies are
engaging in some
high-stakes M&A
MASTERING
THE ART OF THE
CROSS-BORDER
DEAL BY DANNY BRADBURY
