Montreal Canadiens and Molson Centre Acquisition

On July 25, 2001, George N. Gillett, Jr. and partners, acting through a Quebec limited partnership and an Ontario corporation, completed the acquisition from Molson Inc. of an 80.1 per cent interest in the Montreal Canadiens NHL franchise and a 100 per cent ownership interest (as emphyteutic lessee) in the Molson Centre.

Secured financing of $140 million was provided by Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, as syndication agent, National Bank of Canada, as administrative agent, and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, National Bank of Canada, Laurentian Bank of Canada, and Caisse centrale Desjardins, as lenders.

Molson Inc., as a vendor and minority shareholder of the Montreal Canadiens NHL franchise, was represented by a team led by Molson Inc.’s Vice-President, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary, Marie Giguère, assisted by Thomas R.M. Davis, J. Robert Doyle, Robert B. Schubert (real estate), Martin-Pierre Boulianne (business) and Jerald M. Wortsman (tax) of McCarthy Tétrault LLP. The purchasers were represented by Pierre Raymond, Viateur Chénard (real estate), José Gravel, France Margaret Bélanger and Caroline Boutin of Stikeman Elliott (Montreal) and Ron Durand (tax) of the Toronto office, as Canadian counsel, and by Bruce A. Toth, Greg J. Bynan and John G. Kalyvas of Winston & Strawn (Chicago), as US counsel. The National Hockey League was represented by Covington & Burling (Washington).

The agents and the syndicate of lenders were represented by Paul Raymond, Charles J. Boivin, Jules Charette (tax), Mario M. Caron (real estate), Jane Bogaty, Miguel Manzano (real estate), Sébastien Gingras (tax), François Courteau and Alain Richard of Ogilvy Renault (Montreal), as Canadian counsel, and by John Bonacum and Justin H. Wertman of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius (New York), as US counsel, assisted by Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec’s in-house counsel, Robert Côté.