A view of the exterior of the JP Morgan Chase & Co. corporate headquarters in ManhattanMIKE SEGAR/Reuters
Suncor Energy Inc.'s unsolicited bid for Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. could be the year's richest oil-patch deal, spelling big business for advisory firms that have been weathering the downturn.
Suncor, which is offering $4.3-billion in shares for its partner in the Syncrude consortium, enlisted JPMorgan as financial adviser. The deal team is being led by Dave Harrison, who has headed up JPM's Calgary office since 2010.
On the legal side, Suncor retained Blakes, Cassels & Graydon to work with its in-house counsel. For Blakes, Chad Schneider, Jeff Bakker, Brock Gibson and Jennifer Marshall are in charge of the merger side and Robert Kopstein and Carrie Aiken are working on tax implications. Jason Gudofsky and Litsa Kriaris are handling competition issues.
Canadian Oil Sands, meanwhile, hired Royal Bank of Canada as financial adviser. Trevor Gardner and Kent Ferguson are co-heads of RBC's energy banking practice in Calgary. The company's legal adviser is Noralee Bradley of Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, who recently worked on Trinidad Drilling's $469-million takeover of CanElson Drilling.
With a file from Jeff Gray.