Steven L. Wesfield

Associé | Toronto

416.595.8606

Portrait de Steven L.  Wesfield

( Disponible en anglais seulement )

Aperçu

Steven Wesfield is an experienced business lawyer who advises Canadian and international clients. Steve has led significant M&A and outsourcing transactions, and has drafted and negotiated complex commercial contracts. He has also advised clients in shareholding disputes and corporate governance matters. Steve has built trusted relationships with clients in multiple industries. Steve has been a lawyer at Miller Thomson for 34 years.

Transactions: Steve acted for Crown Holdings Inc. and its affiliates regarding the Canadian aspects of its $3.9 billion acquisition of Signode Industrial Group Holdings (Bermuda) Ltd., in addition to a related €835 million issuance of senior notes and credit facility increases. Steve also acted in respect of the Canadian components of their series of receivables securitizations, issuances of senior notes (most recently a 2023 issuance of €500 million), and implementation of credit facilities aggregating approximately USD $4 billion, with the most recent transaction in August 2022. He acted for Jungbunzlauer Canada Inc. in connection with its acquisition of a glucose manufacturing industrial facility in Ontario. Steve also acted for Rakuten Inc., a Japanese public company and one of the world’s top e-commerce companies, in a highly publicized and complex acquisition of Kobo Inc., the manufacturer of the Kobo e-reader and a leading distributor of e-books. Steve recently acted for the Viessmann group in a series of M&A transactions. He has also acted for a well known charity client regarding multiple highly publicized matters.

Other corporate work: Steve’s other experience includes: merger and acquisition transactions involving a Canadian footwear manufacturer, a Canadian asphalt company, an air ventilation manufacturer, a freight billing auditing firm, a minor league hockey team, and a sports equipment manufacturer; the sale by a major Canadian insurance company of one of its provincial divisions; numerous M&A and loan transactions involving insurance brokerages; two separate transactions in which Canadian chartered banks sold operating payroll divisions; and a significant procurement outsourcing transaction for a high profile technology company. He has acted as Secretary and adviser to special committees of the directors of a public company in connection with a monetization of power plant assets, and a redemption of perpetual preferred shares.

Trusted Advisor: Steve is committed to responding to the needs of his clients on a timely, cost-effective, and practical basis. He has been a member of important committees at Miller Thomson, and acts as a director of several Canadian corporations.

Member of Miller Thomson’s Finance Committee

Member of all Miller Thomson Merger Committees that led to the firm becoming national in scope

Past Co-Chair of the Miller Thomson’s Toronto Business Law Group

Past National Chair of Miller Thomson’s Industry and Specialty Groups

Past part-time professor at University of Ottawa Law School, Instructed « Major Business Transactions Course » (Outsourcing Transaction)

Past Business Law Seminar Leader, Law Society of Ontario’s Bar Admission Course

Leadership éclairé

  • Presenter of seminars on the business of the practice of law
  • Co-author of LexisNexis Canada’s web-based Practice Advisor module for Directors and Officers, last updated 2023
  • Speaker on Directors' and Officers' Liability, Canadian Board Diversity Council, in 2015, 2011, and 2010
  • Speaker and author of paper on “Business Law”, at the joint Law Society of Ontario and Ontario Bar Association Solo and Small Firm Conference and Expo, 2006

Associations professionnelles

  • Law Society of Ontario
  • Canadian Bar Association

Formation et admission au barreau

  • Ontario, 1987
  • LL.B., Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, 1985
  • B.Sc., University of Toronto, 1982