Charles-Étienne Pressé is an associate in our Business law group in Montreal. His practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, corporate law, commercial law and corporate governance.

Charles-Étienne advises private and public companies, institutional and strategic investors as well as venture capital firms in the context of domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions in various industry sectors. Specifically, he has built a strong expertise in transactions involving companies in the mining and agribusiness industries, the private equity and technology sectors, as well as in distressed transactions. His mandates also include corporate reorganizations and drafting and reviewing commercial contracts.

Charles-Étienne’s representative work includes:

• Acting for Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec in its minority investment in Avenir Global;
• Acting for Gold Fields Limited in its $675 million acquisition of a 50% interest in a partnership with Osisko Mining Inc. to develop and mine the underground Windfall gold project in Quebec;
• Acting for APN World Inc., a Quebec-based company that is a recognized leader in the production of high-quality precision parts, in the sale of all of its issued and outstanding shares to a subsidiary of Schivo Medical Limited, a company located in Ireland;
• Acting for oxio, an independent residential internet service provider based in the province of Quebec, in the sale of its telecommunications operations to Cogeco Connexion Inc. for $100 million;
• Acting for SNDL Inc. on its acquisition of Zenabis Business;
• Acting for Albioma SA on the acquisition of the La Granaudière wood pellet production plant in Saint-Michel-des-Saints, province of Quebec, in the context of proceedings under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (Canada);
• Acting for Sayona Mining Limited and its subsidiary Sayona Québec Inc. in connection with its $196 million acquisition of North American Lithium Inc., owner of a lithium mine in Quebec, in the context of proceedings under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act(Canada);
• Acting for Christie Innomed on its acquisition of Comp-Ray, Inc., a company based in Arizona that offers Multi-Vendor Sales and Service (MVS) solutions and serves all the southwestern U.S. states;
• Acting for Spectrum Health Care on its acquisition of Visavie, a company that offers agency services to seniors to find a retirement home that meets their specific needs and also provides home nursing and personal care services to patients;
• Acting for Aimia Inc. as its Canadian counsel on its $249.6 million acquisition of Tufropes Pvt Ltd., an India-based global leader in the manufacturing of synthetic fiber ropes and netting solutions for primarily aquaculture and maritime customers;
• Acting for Aimia Inc. as its Canadian counsel on its acquisition of Giovanni Bozetto S.p.A., an Italy-based company that is one of the world's leading providers of specialty sustainable chemicals that offers sustainable textile, water and dispersion chemical solutions;
• Acting for Sayona Inc. on (i) its acquisition, through a subsidiary, of 1824 mining claims held by Troilus Gold Corp. in Northern Quebec, which are adjacent to existing properties held by Sayona, including the Moblan project, and (ii) its purchase, through a non-brokered private placement, of 9,883,163 common shares of Troilus;
• Acting for North American Lithium, a subsidiary of Sayona Mining Limited, on (i) the acquisition of the Lithium Valley Project, which includes an agreement to form a joint venture with Jourdan Resources and (ii) the acquisition by Sayona of a 9.99% interest in Jourdan through a non-brokered private placement; and
• Acting for Pomerleau Inc. in connection with the additional investment of $150 million made by Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec.

Charles-Étienne holds a Bachelor of Laws, and a Master of Business Administration from Université de Sherbrooke obtained in 2019. During his studies, he was a grading assistant to various professors and lecturers. He also volunteered as a mentor with PennyDrops and as treasurer of the Université de Sherbrooke’s Sports Law Committee.

Before joining McCarthy Tétrault, Charles-Étienne was a legal advisor for a Canadian intermediate mining company operating in the precious metals royalty and stream sector. Charles-Étienne was called to the Quebec Bar in 2020 and is a member of the Young Bar of Montreal and the Canadian Bar Association.