TORONTO – In their ranking of the top ten deals of 2013, Lexpert Magazine places Sobeys' acquisition of Safeway at the top. Bennett Jones represented Safeway before the competition Bureau, the necessary step to closing the deal.

“Perhaps most notable was the fact that, while the deal involved an industry with which the Bureau is relatively familiar, the analysis involved, really for the first time, testing the Bureau's appetite for evaluating and weighting the competitive significance of discount-oriented retailers, including Walmart", said Melanie Aitken, who represented Safeway before the Bureau and is a Co-Head of Bennett Jones' Competition Group.

Ranked number two was H&R REIT/Primaris REIT/KingSett Capital/RioCan REIT, a friendly five-way transaction that saw H&R Real Estate Investment Trust acquire Primaris Retail Real Estate Investment Trust for $4.6-billion. As part of the transaction, a KingSett Capital-led consortium, comprising certain KingSett Capital managed funds, Ontario Pension Board, and RioCan REIT, acquired 17 Primaris properties pursuant to separate purchase agreements between Primaris and the consortium members. H&R then acquired Primaris and its remaining 27 properties. The KingSett Capital led consortium was represented by a Bennett Jones team headed up by Paul Mantini.

"There were more than enough impressive deals, sufficient in fact to have the traditional debate as to which deals belonged on the list", said Jean Cumming, Editor-in-Chief of Lexpert Magazine, in her article announcing the top deals of the year.

About Bennett Jones

Bennett Jones is one of Canada's premier business law firms and home to more than 380 lawyers and business advisors across nine offices. With exceptional experience in complex cross-border and international transactions, Bennett Jones is well equipped to advise foreign businesses and investors with Canadian ventures, and to connect Canadian businesses and investors with opportunities around the world.