TORONTO, June 10, 2015 /CNW/ - One of Canada's leading Mergers and Acquisitions advisors, William (Bill) Gula, is joining the law firm Hansell LLP, the firm announced today. Gula has long been a key advisor to companies on their M&A deals. He has acted as a lead advisor to CEOs, boards/committees of directors and shareholders on more than $100 billion in M&A transactions, including some of the most complex and groundbreaking transactions in Canada. Gula is currently a Managing Director with Morrison Park Advisors and will continue an association with that firm.
"There really isn't anyone else in Canada that is able to provide the high level, comprehensive advice on M&A matters that Bill Gula brings to the table," said Hansell LLP Founder and Senior Partner Carol Hansell. "He brings both a financial and legal perspective to a client's issues and exemplifies all of the qualities of the trusted advisor to business. I am delighted to welcome Bill as my partner in advising boards and shareholders on the issues that are most important to them."
Bill Gula's career over more than 35 years includes experience in senior legal and financial advisory roles. He was a Senior Partner at Davies Ward Phillips and Vineberg LLP, specializing in M&A, securities and corporate governance. In addition to his role at Morrison Park Advisors providing financial and strategic advisory services, Bill headed the M&A Group at Scotia Capital for seven years.
"I am very impressed with what Carol Hansell has accomplished at Hansell LLP," said Gula. "In just two years they have established a reputation in Canada's boardrooms as the go-to firm for corporate boards and shareholders dealing with their most important issues. I am delighted to be joining her firm and I am excited about the potential for growing the business."
"Moreover, although my roles at Hansell LLP and MPA will be totally independent of each other, I am very excited about exploring opportunities to provide independent senior level advice to boards and shareholders from a combined financial and legal perspective," he said.
In terms of what this signals for the corporate governance space, Carol Hansell says she has long believed that advisors to boards need to bring a more integrated skill set to the boardroom.
"Legal is an important element, but that is just a starting point. In complex situations, boards need more sophisticated advice on how to navigate through to the best result for the corporation. That means understanding boardroom dynamics, capital market priorities, transaction strategy, investor psychology and communications strategy," she said.
"As Bill joins us, we are moving the firm to the next level, closer to the fully integrated style of advice that boards and shareholders need to achieve their business objectives."
About Hansell LLP
Hansell LLP was formed in response to a demand for expert independent legal and governance counsel. Carol Hansell, the firm's founder, has an internationally recognized reputation in the field. Over the course of more than 25 years in private practice in two of Canada's leading law firms, Carol Hansell has been at the forefront of public policy and practice developments in corporate and securities law and corporate governance matters.
About Bill Gula
Bill Gula is widely regarded as one of Canada's leading M&A advisors. For over 35 years, he has acted as a trusted lead advisor to CEOs, boards/committees of directors and shareholders on over $100 billion of M&A transactions, including some of the most complex and ground breaking transactions in the Canadian marketplace. His experience includes both senior legal and financial advisory roles. He is currently a Managing Director of Morrison Park Advisors and will continue an association with that firm. He headed the Mergers and Acquisitions Group at Scotia Capital for seven years. He was a senior partner at Davies Ward Phillips and Vineberg LLP specializing in mergers and acquisitions, securities and corporate governance.
Bill has been recognized as a leading lawyer in M&A and Corporate Finance in the Lexpert/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada, Chambers Global: The World's Leading Lawyers for Business, Best Lawyers in Canada, International Financial Law Review, the Martindale-Hubbell Directory and in the BTI Consulting Group's Client Service All-Star Team for Corporate Transactions. Bill has been a frequent lecturer at universities and industry conferences and has made many contributions to industry publications. He assisted in authoring the "Wise Men Report" to the Ontario Securities Commission in 1982 to 1983, which led to significant changes to Ontario's take-over bid legislation and formed the foundation for Canada's current take-over bid regime.
Bill is an independent director of Orbit Garant Drilling, Inc. and serves on its Corporate Governance and Compensation Committees.
About Carol Hansell
Carol Hansell is the founder of Hansell LLP. Over her more than 25 years in practice, she has led major transactions for public and private corporations and for government. Her practice now focuses on advising boards, management teams, institutional shareholders and regulators in connection with particular governance challenges. She is regularly engaged in connection with special committee mandates, board investigations, governance reviews, dissident engagements with boards and proxy fights. She has served on boards of organizations across a variety of sectors - public companies, crown corporations, health care, not-for-profit and the arts. She currently serves on the boards of the Global Risk Institute in Financial Services, SickKids Foundation, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the International Corporate Governance Network. She is a past director of the Bank of Canada, PSP Investment Board, Toronto East General Hospital and Royal Group Technologies.
She is the only non-American to serve as the Chair of the Corporate Governance Committee of the American Bar Association (Business Law Section) and continues to serve as Special Canadian Advisor to the ABA's Corporate Laws Committee. In 2013 she was inducted as a Fellow of the Institute of Corporate. In 2015 she received the Lifetime Achievement Award in Investor Relations from IR Magazine Awards Canada. Most recently, she was elected as a founding Fellow of the American College of Governance Counsel and serves on the Board of Trustees of that organization.
SOURCE Hansell LLP
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Carol Hansell, [email protected], 416-649-8486
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