Nicole Washington

Nicole’s practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, securities, public and private equity offerings and general corporate representation of clients.  Her corporate finance experience includes equity, convertible instruments and debt.  Nicole performs services for a full range of clients, from closely held concerns to exchange-listed companies, as well as investment banks, institutional investors and financial advisors.  In addition, she advises clients and their boards of directors with respect to corporate governance and corporate strategy.

Nicole has experience representing Canadian and international mining companies and has worked on transactions in many other industries including utilities, renewable energy, financial services, REITs, information technology, transportation, pharmaceuticals and waste management.

Nicole’s expertise in mergers and acquisitions is evidenced by her involvement in the following transactions:

• Hecla Mining Company in its $796 million acquisition of Aurizon Mines Ltd.
• Avion Gold’s sale to Endeavour Mining for $389 million
• Starlight Investment Ltd. in its $2.3 billion acquisition of TransGlobe Apartment Real Estate Investment Trust
• Pfizer Inc. in its $68 billion acquisition of Wyeth Pharmaceuticals
• New Gold Inc. in its acquisition of Geo Minerals
• Luna Gold Corp. in its sale of its Cachoeira Project to Brazil Resources

Her transactional experience includes playing a key role in representing:

• Starlight Investments Ltd. in connection with its $2.3 Billion privatization of TransGlobe Apartment Real Estate Investment Trust
• The University of Toronto in connection with its $200 million debenture offering
• the Underwriters in a $85 million public offering of common shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp.
• the Agents in a $135 million private placement of senior unsecured debentures of Algonquin Power Co.
• Avion Gold Corporation in public offerings aggregating approximately $150 million
• the Underwriters in a $70 million dollar public offering of units for Ram Power, Corp.
• Allana Potash Corp. in its $20 million public offering
• Luna Gold in its $39.35 million prospectus offering and South American private placement
• the Underwriters in a $27 million bought deal private placement for Mood Media Corporation
• the Underwriters in a $12 million convertible debenture transaction and a $10 million private placement for ePals Corporation

Nicole has also been involved in advising issuers in proxy contest battles.

Prior to becoming a lawyer, Nicole worked in corporate finance at one of Canada’s big five banks and obtained her Chartered Financial Analyst designation. She also holds a Masters in Business Administration from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario, where she focused her education on finance and strategic management. Since joining Cassels she has completed the Osgoode Certificate in Mining Law.

In addition to her law practice, Nicole is actively involved in civic organizations in the Toronto area. She has served on the Board of Directors of JobStart, a non-profit organization that facilitates employment and educational opportunities for Toronto’s immigrant communities.  She also serves on the committee of Women in Capital Markets whose mission it is to promote knowledge of the capital markets and mentor high school-aged girls in respect of financial literacy and career planning.  In addition, Nicole is actively involved in the Urban Financial Services Coalition, a non-profit, North American organization, whose mission it is to promote professional development for the minority community at large.  Nicole is also a member of the Toronto CFA Society and Women in Mining.  She has written papers and memoranda, and delivered presentations on corporate and securities law matters.

ASSOCIATIONS