Bob is a creative and solutions-oriented securities and public M&A lawyer

Robert (Bob) Richardson is a partner in our mergers and acquisitions (M&A), capital markets and financial services groups in Toronto. In addition, he is a leader of our firm-wide multidisciplinary Critical Situations & Activism team and our firm-wide multidisciplinary ESG & Sustainability team. 

A seasoned securities lawyer and former banking executive, Bob leverages his knowledge, experience, creativity and judgment to identify and implement legal solutions to business challenges, achieving clients' business objectives in a way that appropriately balances risks and rewards. 

Mr. Richardson’s practice is focused on M&A transactions, corporate governance matters and crisis remediation. He acts for public companies, private equity sponsors, boards of directors, special committees, financing providers and financial advisors in connection with a broad range of matters, including contested and distressed transactions. During his 30-year legal career, Bob has worked closely on many prominent and complex transactions, including:

• Canada’s largest successful unsolicited and contested take-over bid, Brookfield Infrastructure’s $15.2 billion acquisition of Inter Pipeline Ltd.,
• Canada’s largest insolvency restructuring, the restructuring of Canada’s $32 billion non-bank asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP) market,
• Canada’s largest equity offering (at the time), CIBC’s $3 billion offering at the onset of the Global Financial Crisis, and
• Canada’s largest “PIPE” equity investment, Constellation Brands' $5.1 billion investment in, and joint venture with, Canopy Growth Corporation.

Although largely “industry agnostic,” Bob has accumulated significant M&A expertise in the financial services sector, including:

• The Bank of Nova Scotia’s acquisition of Montreal Trustco Inc.
• the merger of CIBC West Indies Holdings and Barclays Bank PLC’s Caribbean operations to form CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank Group and CIBC’s subsequent acquisition of Barclays’ interest,
• CIBC’s sale of its Asian private wealth management business to Bank of Montreal,
• the contested acquisition of TMX Group, the owner of Canada’s principal stock exchange, by a consortium of 13 of Canada’s largest financial institutions and pension funds, operating as Maple Group,
• CIBC’s acquisition of Wellington Financial and launch of CIBC Innovation Banking,
• Stifel Financial Corp.’s cross-border acquisition of the capital markets business of GMP Capital,
• CIBC’s $6.8 billion cross-border share exchange acquisition of Nasdaq-listed Chicago-based PrivateBancorp, Inc., and
• National Bank of Canada’s $5.1 billion share exchange acquisition of TSX-listed Canadian Western Bank.

Prior to rejoining McCarthy Tétrault in 2018, Bob was the Senior Vice President and General Counsel (Canada) at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and a Managing Director at CIBC World Markets Inc., CIBC’s principal investment banking subsidiary. While at CIBC, he was a member of the Capital Markets Executive Committee, as well as a member of the Board of Directors, Fairness Opinions Committee, Equity Due Diligence Committee and Investment Committee of CIBC World Markets Inc. Earlier in his career, Mr. Richardson spent a year as special counsel at the Ontario Securities Commission (Canada’s largest securities regulator), where he worked on contested M&A transactions and policy reformulation.

While completing his undergraduate studies, Bob completed the Canadian Army’s RESO Armour Officer training program. Following almost 13 years of service, Bob retired as a Captain. He is a proud recipient of the Canadian Forces decoration (CD) and the Canadian 125th Anniversary Medal.

Bob is a graduate of Trent University (BA) and Osgoode Hall Law School (LLB and LLM) and is an adjunct professor of at Western University’s Faculty of Law, where he teaches Corporate Finance and Crisis Management at the JD level, and has been an adjunct professor at Osgoode Hall Law School, where he has taught Corporate Finance and M&A Transactions at the LL.M level.

Bob has served as a member of the Veterans’ Mental Health Advisory Committee at the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine and on the Canada Committee of RefuSHE, a Chicago-based NGO providing sanctuary, schooling, vocational training and outplacement to young women and children in Africa.