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Alex MacFarlane

Senior Counsel

Toronto
AMacFarlane@blg.com
416.367.6305
416.200.6320

Expertise

Joanna Earl

Practice Assistant

Toronto
jearl@blg.com
416.367.6749
416.367.6710

Alex acts as counsel in insolvency and restructuring proceedings. He serves a variety of clients, including:

  • debtor corporations
  • financial institutions
  • court appointed monitors
  • proposal trustees
  • trustees-in-bankruptcy
  • receivers
  • receiver/managers

He serves clients across a broad spectrum of industries in proceedings under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, and the Winding-Up and Restructuring Act, and in cross-border proceedings.

Alex has been lead counsel in numerous insolvency and restructuring proceedings on the Commercial List of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

Alex has also acted as lead counsel on numerous distressed divesture or acquisition transactions related to the CCAA, receivership, bankruptcy or winding-up proceedings, acting for:

  • receivers, proposal trustees, trustees, monitors or debtor corporations, as sellers
  • third party entities, as potential purchasers

Within BLG, Alex is the national co-chair of BLG’s Insolvency & Restructuring Group.

Alex provides legal services through a Law Corporation.

Experience

  • Rambler Metals & Mining Canada Limited - Acting as lead counsel to Grant Thornton Limited, in its capacity as court appointed monitor, in the CCAA proceedings of Rambler Metals commenced in the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador.
  • Acting for First Generation Capital Inc. in its capacity as the DIP Lender to Acerus Pharmaceuticals Corporation, Acerus Biopharma Inc., Acerus Labs Inc., and Acerus Pharmaceuticals USA, LLC, a group of pharmaceutical companies  in the business of the commercialization and development of prescription health products, in respect of their filing for court protection under the CCAA.
  • Acting for Purdue Canada in connection with the cross-border recognition proceedings under Part IV of the Companies Creditors' Arrangement Act of the Chapter 11 Bankruptcy proceedings of Purdue Pharma L.P. (Purdue U.S.) and 23 other debtors in which Canadian Provincial Governments filed claims with an aggregate claim value of US$67.4 billion.
  • Acting for Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) in connection with the restructuring proceedings of Laurentian University of Sudbury (“LrU") under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act.
  • Acting for The Fuller Landau Group as proposal trustee in the BIA proposal proceedings of iSpan Systems LP, a limited partnership formed pursuant to the Limited Partnership Act (Ontario). iSPAN engineers, manufactures and installs proprietary cold-formed steel floor joists and framing systems for residential, commercial and industrial buildings.
  • Acting for MNP LLP in its capacity as monitor in the CCAA proceedings of TribalScale, a software engineering and development firm that provides digital product strategy, design and development services. A CCAA Plan was successfully developed and implemented with the purpose of restructuring Tribalscale's secured indebtedness, resulting in a restructuring support agreement between Tribalscale and its senior secured creditor and the successful conclusion of a reverse vesting transaction which allowed TribalScale to exit the restructuring proceedings and operate in the ordinary course.
  • GNC Holdings Inc.: Canadian counsel to the U.S. Creditors Committee appointed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Proceedings of GNC Holdings In., General Nutrition Centres, Inc., General Nutrition Centres Company and their affiliated companies (the “U.S. Debtors”) in respect of the recognition proceedings of the U.S. Debtors commenced under Part IV of the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act.
  • PharmHouse Inc.: Lead counsel to Ernst & Young Inc. in its capacity as monitor in the CCAA proceedings of PharmHouse Inc.
  • Cirque du Soleil et al. - Lead counsel to NBCUniversal Media, LLC/Universal City Development Partners, Ltd in the CCAA proceedings of Cirque du Soleil et al.
  • Stabilis Capital Management, LP – Counsel to Stabilis Capital as DIP Lender in the CCAA proceedings of AgMedica Bioscience Inc., which is a cannabis producing and distributing company.
  • Ontario Graphite Ltd. – Counsel to Deloitte Restructuring Inc., as court-appointed monitor of Ontario Graphite Ltd., which is a graphite mine.
  • Bondfield Construction Company Limited et al. – Co-counsel a major surety and DIP lender with regard to Bondfield’s restructuring commenced under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act.
  • Best Made Toys International, ULC et al. – Lead Counsel to Deloitte Restructuring Inc. as court appointed receiver and manager of Best Made Toys.
  • Best Made Toys International, ULC et al. – Lead counsel to BMO Bank of Montreal, as senior secured lender, in respect of the refinancing and restructuring of Best Made Toys.
  • Carillion Canada Inc. et al. – Co-counsel for two major bonding companies for Carillion Canada, RPC Limited Partnership and Rokstad Power GP Inc. with regard to Carillion’s, RPC’s and Rokstad’s restructuring commenced under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act.
  • Ingenious Packaging Group ULC – Lead counsel to Bank of Montreal as the agent for the Lending Syndicate as applicant for the appointment of Deloitte Restructuring Inc. as Receiver of Ingenious Packaging in order to consummate a sale of Ingenious’ property, assets and business to Ingenious Group Inc., affiliate of Resource Label Group.
  • SecureCare Capital Inc. – Lead counsel to Grant Thornton Limited in its capacity as Proposal Trustee to SecureCare Capital in respect of Secure Care’s proposal proceedings under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act.
  • Sears Canada Inc. et al. – Lead counsel to Sears Holdings Corporation and Roebuck and Co. in respect of the restructuring proceedings of Sears Canada Inc. under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act.
  • PTX Performance Products Inc. – Lead counsel to Fuller Landau Group Inc. in its capacity as Court Appointed Receiver of PTX Performance Products
  • RTK WP Canada ULC – Lead counsel to Grant Thornton Limited in its capacity as court appointed receiver of RTK for the purpose of selling the property, assets and business of RTK related to a wood pellet mill in Wawa, Ontario
  • Tarn Construction Group – Lead counsel to the primary surety bonding company to Tarn Construction in respect of its multi-residence project over which KPMG Inc. was appointed as receiver and manager by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice [Commercial List].
  • Terrasan 327 Royal York Road Limited – Lead counsel to the primary surety bonding company to Terrasan in respect of its multi-residence project over which BDO Canada Limited was appointed as receiver and manager by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice [Commercial List].
  • Rockport Company LLC – Co-counsel to Rockport in respect of Rockport’s recognition proceedings in Canada commenced under Part IV of the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act.
  • Diteba Research Laboratories – Lead counsel to Nutrasource Diagnostics Inc. in connection with its acquisition of the business and assets of Diteba Research Laboratories in the context of Diteba’s proposal proceedings commenced under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act.
  • Maple Bank GmbH – Lead counsel to KPMG Inc., the court-appointed liquidator of Maple Bank in Canada and its assets. On application by the Attorney General of Canada acting for the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, the Toronto branch of Maple Bank was ordered to be wound up under the provisions of the Winding-Up and Restructuring Act and KPMG Inc. was appointed by the court as liquidator. Prior to KPMG's appointment the regulator for banks in Germany, the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, issued a moratorium on Maple Bank's business activities, commenced insolvency proceedings against Maple Bank in Germany and obtained an order from the German Court for the appointment of an insolvency administrator over Maple Bank's operations.
  • Wasaya Airways Limited Partnership, Wasaya General Partner Limited and Wasaya Airways Leasing Ltd. – Lead counsel to Wasaya, a First Nations Airline, in its restructuring under the proposal provisions of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act.
  • Sherson Group – Co-counsel to BMO, operating lender during the Sherson Group's proposal proceedings and sale of its retail and wholesale operations to Nine West Canada LP.
  • Laricina Energy Ltd. – Co-counsel to one of the largest institutional shareholders of Laricina during Laricina's restructuring proceedings under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act.
  • Alberta-based oilfield service company – Counsel during its successful restructuring under the proposal provisions of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act and its concurrent reorganization under the Alberta Business Corporations Act.
  • Bombay and Bowring – Co-counsel to CIBC as DIP lender to Bombay and Bowring in their proceedings under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act.
  • Comstock Canada Ltd. – Lead counsel in the restructuring of Comstock Canada Ltd. under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act. Comstock was one of the largest electrical contractors in Canada with operations in Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia, and has significant expertise in the oil and gas and nuclear energy sectors.
  • Great Basin Gold Ltd. – Co-counsel to KPMG Inc., the court-appointed monitor of Great Basin Gold Ltd. and its reorganization proceedings under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act.
  • Nortel Networks — Canadian counsel for the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Nortel Networks Inc. and certain direct and indirect subsidiaries in the cross-border CCAA/Chapter 11 proceedings.
  • TerreStar Networks Inc. - Canadian counsel in the CCAA recognition proceedings of TerreStar's Chapter 11 cases.
  • Cooper-Standard Canada - Canadian counsel to an informal note holder group and the backstop parties in the Cooper-Standard cross-border CCAA/Chapter 11 restructuring proceedings.
  • Grant Forest Products Inc. - Counsel to Grant Forest Products Inc. and its subsidiaries in their proceedings under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act and Chapter 15 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.
  • Pope & Talbot Ltd. — Counsel to the Her Majesty the Queen in Right of the Province of British Columbia in successfully having the CCAA proceedings transferred from the Courts of Ontario to the Courts of British Columbia on the basis of forum conveniens.
  • RSM Richter Inc. – Counsel for the monitor in the restructuring of a large scale bread and bakery business.
  • The Ravelston Corporation Limited - Counsel for RSM Richter Inc., receiver, manager and monitor of The Ravelston Corporation Limited and for certain affiliated companies in cross-border insolvency and criminal proceedings.
  • The Royal Crest Life Care Group Inc. - Independent counsel for Ernst & Young, interim receiver and trustee in bankruptcy of The Royal Crest Life Care Group Inc. and its affiliates in its CCAA and bankruptcy proceedings.
  • 1231640 Ontario Inc. - Counsel to PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc., interim receiver and trustee in bankruptcy of 1231640 Ontario Inc. (formerly known as The State Group Limited), an electrical manufacturer.
  • Air Canada: Co-counsel to Scotiabank as agent to the RT Lending Syndicate.

Beyond Our Walls

Professional Involvement

  • Member, Ontario Bar Association, Insolvency Law Executive, 1998 - present
  • Member, Turnaround Management Association, 2007 - present
  • American Bankruptcy Institute
  • INSOL International
  • Toronto Lawyers Association
  • The Advocates’ Society
  • The Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society (NSBS)

Awards & Recognitions

  • Selected by peers for inclusion in the 2025 edition (and since 2017) of The Best Lawyers in Canada® (Banking Finance Law, Insolvency and Financial Restructuring Law).
  • Recognized in the 2025 edition (and since 2017) of Chambers Canada — Canada's Leading Lawyers for Business (Restructuring/Insolvency (Nationwide)).
  • Recognized in the 2024 edition (and since 2017) of Chambers Global — The World's Leading Lawyers for Business (Restructuring/Insolvency — Canada).
  • Recognized in the 2024 edition (and since 2016) of The Canadian Legal Lexpert® Directory (Banking & Financial Institutions, Insolvency & Financial Restructuring - Financial Restructuring).
  • Recognized in the 2023, 2022 and 2016 editions of Who's Who Legal: Canada (Insolvency and Restructuring).
  • Recognized in the 2022 edition (and since 2016) of The Canadian Legal Lexpert® Directory (Banking & Financial Institutions, Insolvency & Financial Restructuring).
  • Recognized in the 2022 edition (and since 2021) of IFLR1000 (Restructuring and Insolvency)
  • Recognized as a recommended lawyer in the 2017 edition of the Legal 500 Canada (Restructuring and Insolvency).
  • Recognized in the 2016 edition of the Lexpert® Leading Canadian Lawyers in Global Mining.
  • Recognized in the 2019, 2017 and 2016 editions of the Lexpert®/Report on Business Corporate Special Edition.

Bar Admission & Education

  • Nova Scotia, 1991
  • Ontario, 1988
  • LLB, Dalhousie University, 1986
  • MA (ABD), York University
  • BA, University of British Columbia, 1981