181 Bay St, Suite 4400, Brookfield Pl, Bay Wellington Twr, Toronto, ON
Year called to bar: 1991 (ON)
Neil is the co-leader of McMillan LLP's Competition and International Trade Groups and a partner in the Energy Group. Neil's competition law practice focuses on merger clearances under the Competition Act and Investment Canada Act; representation in cartel/follow-on, abuse of dominance and other proceedings; and advising on distribution and joint venture issues. His experience includes over 300 merger clearances (including the leading failing firm case, AIM/TMR); dozens of domestic or international cartel cases and/or class actions (including Pioneer Corp. v. Godfrey, 2019 SCC 42, which clarified the standards for certification of competition class actions); and major unilateral conduct cases (including a rare successful refusal to deal application, UCDA v. IBC). Neil has a doctorate in competition law from University of Toronto and an MBA from York University. He received the Global Competition Review Dealmaker of the Year Award in 2016 and is the Global Contributing Editor for the Cartel Regulation deskbook. Neil is a former Co-chair of the IBA Antitrust Section, and is the Secretary of the CBA Competition Law Section. Neil was Chair of the OEB Market Surveillance Panel in 2007-12 and is on the CUSMA Chapter 10 Dispute Resolution Panel roster.
Canadian courts delivered several hard-hitting decisions affecting Canadian businesses in 2019 and 2020, including the long-awaited release of the Supreme Court of Canada’s administrative law trilogy
On September 28, 2018, Coca-Cola Canada Bottling Limited (“CCCBL”), a joint venture established between prominent businessman and philanthropist, Larry Tanenbaum O.C., and Junior Bridgeman, a former NBA player, renowned entrepreneur and owner of Kansas City-based Heartland Coca-Cola Bottling Company, completed its previously announced acquisition of Coca-Cola Refreshments Canada Company (“CCRC”) from Coca-Cola Refreshments USA, Inc., a subsidiary of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO).
On August 1, 2015, The WhiteWave Foods Company (WhiteWave), a leading consumer packaged food and beverage company, completed its US$550 million acquisition of Sequel Naturals Ltd. (dba Vega Foods) (Vega), a Vancouver-based maker of plant-based nutrition products. Before the acquisition, Vega was majority owned by Mr. Charles Chang and VMG Partners.
On July 30, 2015, The Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) and G3 Global Grain Group Limited (G3 Global) completed the “commercialization” of the CWB pursuant to Part 3 of the Marketing Freedom for Grain Farmers Act, representing the end of an era for CWB. CWB was formed by Parliament in 1935 to market wheat and barley in Western Canada and to monitor grain prices for farmers. The transaction is the culmination of the Canadian government’s promise to farmers in Western Canada to commercialize the CWB and end the decades old monopoly held by the CWB to market grain for and on behalf of Western farmers.
