Darcy Ammerman 

Ottawa

World Exchange Plaza, Suite 2000

45 O'Connor Street

Ottawa, Ontario K1P 1A4

t: 613.691.6131

e: darcy.ammerman@mcmillan.ca

aperçu

Darcy is a lawyer in the firm’s Ottawa office advising on all aspects of corporate and commercial transactions, general contract law, financial institution regulation, regulation of service contracts/warranties and insurance matters. In the insurance area, Darcy advises on policy drafting and review, regulatory approvals, reorganizations, direct marketing and coverage issues (including with respect to cybersecurity coverage). Darcy's transactional experience includes syndicated lending, asset-based lending, real estate, DIP financing, mezzanine financing, project finance, private placement and corporate restructuring. Darcy is named as a 2019 rising star in the IFLR1000 Financial and Corporate Guide.

Representative Matters

Insurance

• Routinely assists domestic and foreign insurance and reinsurance companies in connection with incorporation and licensing of Canadian subsidiaries/branches.
• Advises corporate clients on the scope and language of the insurance policy coverage to be required from their vendors, including recently advising the provider of Canada’s essential payments systems on the scope and language of the cybersecurity insurance policy coverage to be required.
• Recently conducted a fulsome review of the applications and endorsements of an international insurance company and adapted them for use within Canada (excluding Quebec).
• Ongoing advice to a major global insurance company related to their operations in Canada, most recently with respect to the language and roll out of a new flood endorsement.
• Counsel to an international insurance agency with respect to the organization and licensing of a Canadian federal life insurance agency seeking to commence business in the provinces of Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec.
• Darcy conducts a quarterly cross-Canada review of the legislation and regulatory guidance applicable to insurance companies in order to provide ongoing compliance advice through the firm's collaboration with Ethidex Inc.'s offering of Risk Manager^®, a web based risk management and legislative compliance tool for insurance companies across Canada.
• Engaged by a key stakeholder to provide advice with respect to the ongoing review of the federal financial sector legislative and regulatory framework in Canada, with a particular focus on the ability to interact with fintech companies.
• Counsel to The Co-operators Group Limited in the merger of its travel insurance company TIC Travel Insurance Coordinators with Allianz Global Assistance Canada, creating one of the largest travel insurance providers in the country operating as Allianz Global Assistance, as described in the April 2015 edition of Lexpert.

Extended Warranties and Service Contracts

• Advised an automotive manufacturer with respect to an extended warranty program, including potential risks and the applicability of licensing requirements.
• Recently provided an analysis of the regulatory landscape across Canada, including the factors that regulators may consider when assessing licensing requirements for the provision of automobile protection products through franchise auto dealerships.

Lender Counsel

• Counsel to Antares Capital LP, in its capacity as administrative agent for a syndicate of financial institutions, in connection with a US$135 million debtor-in-possession financing to Golfsmith International Holdings LP. Golfsmith, a specialty retailer of golf equipment, consumables, athletic apparel and accessories in North America, and its US subsidiaries filed for Chapter 11 proceedings in the United States. Concurrent Canadian proceedings under the CCAA were filed by Golf Town Canada Holdings Inc. (the Canadian branch of Golfsmith) and its Canadian subsidiaries.
• Counsel to FMMC Private Yield Fund (FMMC), a private investment fund managed by Fraser Mackenzie Merchant Capital in connection with a 2016 multimillion-dollar funding agreement with iCONECT to support the ongoing development of iCONECT's flagship XERA document review platform and its continued expansion in the legal eDiscovery field, as well as its entrance into healthcare and finance industries. Fraser Mackenzie Merchant Capital is a private equity firm based in Canada that helps medium sized businesses grow, while FMMC provides capital to profitable, privately-owned and small-cap public businesses in Canada and the United States.
• Counsel to The Bank of Nova Scotia in connection with an extension of a senior secured revolving credit facility to North American Palladium Ltd., an established precious metals producer, as described in the October 2013 edition of Lexpert
• Assisted a major Schedule I Bank to obtain a security interest over a mine in Mexico, along with other collateral located in Peru and Barbados 
• Lender counsel for the $175 million debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing provided to Catalyst Paper to help fund its operations during the period of credit protection under the CCAA
• Assisted a major Schedule III Bank to secure an amended and restated credit facility to a leading energy management company, allowing the company to acquire a new subsidiary

Borrower Counsel

• Acted for Canadian Payments Association (d.b.a. Payments Canada), the organization responsible for Canada’s essential payments systems, in connection with a syndicated credit facility in the principal amount of $250 million as part of the modernization of Canada’s payments ecosystem completed in April, 2017.  
• Counsel to Intrinsic4D Inc. in connection with the 2016 closing of its brokered private placement of debenture units, led by Gravitas Securities Inc., Gravitas Capital International Inc. and Echelon Wealth Partners Inc., for gross proceeds of $3.13 million.
• Canadian counsel to Vitran Corporation Inc., a publicly traded North American transportation company in the sale of its Supply Chain Operation (SCO) business to LEGACY Supply Chain for US $97 million in cash in which LEGACY Supply Chain acquired various Vitran Canadian and U.S. subsidiaries carrying on the SCO business, as described in the June 2013 edition of Lexpert
• DIP financing: counsel to Crystallex International Corporation, a mining company, whose main asset was a $3.2 billion arbitration claim against Venezuela

Project Finance

• Counsel to the bond underwriters and lenders in connection with a $1.093 billion 20 year project for the design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of the John Hart Generating Station Replacement Project involving a new generating station, water bypass facility and associated water intake and 2.1 kilometer long tunnel located on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, as described in the July/August 2014 edition of Lexpert
• Significant role in the financial close of the Northeast Anthony Henday Drive Project in Alberta, a $1.81 billion project for the design, build, operate and finance of the North East portion of the Edmonton ring road over the course of a 34-year contract. The project includes 27 kilometres of six and eight-lane divided roadway, nine interchanges, two road flyovers, eight rail crossings and two bridges across the North Saskatchewan River
• Acting for both lenders and consortia on several bids in various jurisdictions, including the Interior Heart and Surgical Centre, Pan Am Games Stadia and Velodrome Project, Alberta Schools III and the Billy Bishop Airport Tunnel project
• Darcy has also gained experience in the secondary market for PPPs

Presentations

Publications

News

Directorships and Professional Associations

• Ontario Bar Association
• Canadian Bar Association
• OBA Young Lawyers' Division Central Executive Member 2012-2013
• Member - Young Women in Law 
• Member - Young Leaders in Infrastructure
• Past Board Member - Toronto Rehabilitation Institute
• Research Ethics Board

Community Involvement

• Volunteer with Level (formally Canadian Lawyers Abroad) in support of the Dare to Dream justice education program mentoring Indigenous youth from Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.
• Participant in The Law School Show as an interviewee.
• Mentor - Women's Legal Mentorship Program - uOttawa Chapter

Awards & Rankings

• Recognized by IFLR1000 Financial and Corporate Guide 2020 as a Rising Star in Banking
• Recognized by IFLR1000 Financial and Corporate Guide 2019 as a Rising Star in Banking
• Listed on the UNECE Roster of PPP experts
• IFLR1000 Financial and Corporate Guide 2018 as a rising star in banking and financial services

Media Mentions

• "NAFTA: data flows back on the trade agenda", The Canadian Bar Association, July 21st 2017
• "EP 87 A Candid Conversation with Darcy Ammerman", The Law School Show, July 4, 2017