Francois Janson is a Senior Counsel in the Business law group, based in the New York office. His practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions and securities offerings, with an emphasis on U.S.-Canada and other cross-border transactions. He has represented Canadian and European clients in U.S. corporate finance transactions and U.S. and non-U.S. clients seeking to acquire or invest in Canadian and U.S. companies. Mr. Janson is a member of the bars of New York, Paris and Quebec.
Mr. Janson has advised corporations, private equity funds and hedge funds in connection with domestic and international acquisitions, investments and dispositions. His experience includes the representation of:
• Kemira in connection with the purchase of EQUIP, a Quebec-based manufacturer of chemical products
• the sponsors in connection with the purchase of the Recreational Products Division of Bombardier
• Praxim in connection with an investment by CDC Entreprises and MDS Capital
He has also acted for Canadian issuers and underwriters on cross-border initial public offerings and other public and private debt and equity offerings. His experience includes the representation of:
• Merrill Lynch in connection with the initial public offering of Mega Brands and subsequent secondary offerings by Blackstone Group (listing in Canada and international Rule 144A offerings)
• Elior in connection with its initial public offering (listing in France and international Rule 144A offering)
• the underwriters in connection with cross-border and MJDS offerings of shares of Astral Media and Domtar
• Bombardier Recreational Products and Acetex in connection with cross-border high-yield offerings
• Bollé in connection with its spin off and public offering in the U.S.
Mr. Janson has advised Quebec-based and other Canadian issuers in connection with a broad range of U.S. and Canadian securities law matters, including their disclosure obligations, deregistration and Rule 12g3-2(b) compliance issues, corporate governance and compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. He has also advised several Canadian public companies listed in the U.S. on the implications of the adoption of new rules regarding civil liability for secondary market disclosure in Canada.
Mr. Janson has advised hedge funds, private equity funds and SEC-registered investment companies and their advisers in connection with securities offerings and formation, investments and compliance matters. He has also represented European banks as institutional investors and in connection with the establishment of U.S. securities and commodities dealers.
Mr. Janson has lectured on a variety of securities and corporate law matters, including the disclosure and corporate governance requirements for Canadian companies listed in the U.S. and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. He is also a regular contributor to the Holland & Knight Securities and Financial News to Note bulletin.