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Summarize
Curtis Cusinato is one of Canada's top deal makers. He is a business-focused, trusted advisor in cross-border M&A, private equity and capital markets transactions. He finds workable solutions to complex matters and is relentless in serving his clients' strategic goals. He understands their industries thoroughly and is highly esteemed for getting deals done in Canada, the U.S. and globally.

Overview

For more than 25 years, Curtis has been advising leading public and private companies and private equity groups. He leads multi-billion dollar M&A deals, going private transactions and corporate financings. He is a superb negotiator and represents clients on divestitures, leveraged and management buyouts, take-over bids, IPOs, restructurings and other strategic investments.

His clients include multinational companies and some of the largest family offices in Canada. He has acted on multiple deals in multiple industries, giving him an unparalleled depth of diverse industry expertise.

Curtis is consistently recognized as one of Canada's top deal makers in Canadian, U.S. and international legal publications. He is highly ranked in M&A, private equity, mid-market, corporate commercial and corporate finance in Chambers Global, Chambers Canada, the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, the Lexpert/American Lawyer Media Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada and other directories. He has been named as a leading lawyer in a broad array of industries, including finance, technology, energy, mining, health and agribusiness.

Prior to joining Bennett Jones, Curtis served as the managing partner of the Toronto office at another Canadian national law firm—where he also served as a member of the executive committee and partnership board, as the former national head of the corporate group and as co-chair of the M&A and private equity group.

Curtis is actively involved in a number of community and charitable initiatives. He served on the board of the North York General Hospital Foundation and as Chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee and Governor’s Council. Curtis supported the Wellspring Cancer Support Foundation, joining a team of cyclists as they undertook the Wellspring Peloton Challenge—riding from Toronto to Las Vegas in 2018 and again in 2019, from Toronto to San Antonio, and most recently from Toronto to Collingwood, Ontario in 2021.

Curtis began building his international and industry experience early in his career with a one-year secondment to Sydney, Australia in 1997. Then in 1999, he acted as interim general counsel for Waste Management in Canada. In 1990, Curtis completed an internship at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, England and in 1991 he completed the Michigan Bar exam.

,,Curtis is the lawyer you want on your side in any transaction. He is pragmatic and can solve complex problems even when they seem insurmountable.,,

Chambers Global

Client Work

Plantro in connection with its requisition of a meeting of shareholders of Dye & Durham (TSX: DND) to replace certain incumbent members of the Board and direct a sales process for the Company
SFC International in its sale to Super League International
Shift4 Payments and its affiliates in its acquisition of of Eigen Development Ltd. and Eigen Holdings (U.S.) Corp. 
Acted as Canadian legal counsel to Lynx Software Technologies, a portfolio company of OceanSound Partners, in connection with the acquisition of Core Avionics & Industrial
Element Fleet Management Corp., the largest publicly traded, pure play automotive fleet manager in the world, in its acquisition of all of the issued and outstanding shares of Tel Aviv-based Autofleet Systems Ltd., a leading Israeli based technology company and innovator in fleet and mobility solutions
Shift 4 Payments, Inc., a leading global processing company, in its going private transaction by way of a statutory plan of arrangement of Givex Corp., a leading payment processing company, in a $200 million all cash transaction

Recognitions & Awards

Chambers Canada: Canada's Leading Lawyers for Business

Ranked, Corporate/Commercial: The Elite – Ontario
Ranked, Private Equity: Buyouts

Chambers Global

Band 4, Corporate/M&A
Band 4, Private Equity : Buyouts

The Legal 500 Canada

Key Lawyer, Cannabis
Leading Lawyer, Corporate and M&A

Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory

Most Frequently Recommended, Corporate Mid-Market; Corporate Commercial Law
Consistently Recommended, Mergers & Acquisitions; Private Equity
Repeatedly Recommended, Corporate Finance & Securities

Lexpert's Leading 500 Cross-Border Lawyers in Canada

Recognized as a leading Corporate Commercial and Corporate Mid-Market lawyer  

Lexpert Guide to the Leading U.S./Canada Cross-border Lawyers in Canada

Recognized as a leading cross-border lawyer in M&A

Education & Bar Admissions

Education

  • University of Ottawa, Hons. BComm, 1988
  • University of Windsor, LLB, 1991
  • University of Detroit Mercy, JD, 1991

Bar Admissions

  • Ontario, 1993

Insights

Ready to Rebound Canadas 2024 M A LandscapeBlog

Ready to Rebound: Canada's 2024 M&A Landscape

December 20, 2023
Curtis A. CusinatoAngela BlakeAshley M. White
& 2 more
Reflections on Canadas M A Landscape in 2022 and a Look Ahead to 2023Blog

Reflections on Canada's M&A Landscape in 2022 and a Look Ahead to 2023

January 3, 2023
Curtis A. CusinatoMarshall EidingerAshley M. White
Curtis A. Cusinato, Marshall Eidinger & Ashley M. White

News, Events & Speaking Engagements

PlaceholderIn The News

Why to Expect a Robust Deal Scene for the Rest of 2024

June 26, 2024
Curtis A. Cusinato
Curtis A. Cusinato
PlaceholderIn The News

Family Office Investing Strategies and Legal Risks

September 6, 2022
Curtis A. Cusinato
Curtis A. Cusinato