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Stikeman Elliott LLP Strengthens REIT/Income Trust Practice

September 16, 2003 (Toronto) – Stikeman Elliott LLP is pleased to announce that David Ehrlich, Jeffrey Singer and David Weinberger have joined their partnership in the firm’s Toronto corporate finance group.

Messrs. Ehrlich, Singer and Weinberger are highly-regarded lawyers who previously practiced together at another major Canadian law firm at which they built a strong corporate finance practice which included the representation of issuers and underwriters in respect of approximately 25% of the Canadian REIT market, as well as a number of income trust offerings.

REIT and Income Trust related transactions represented more than 86% of the total value of all IPOs in Canada last year and continue to represent a significant number of capital market transactions. As Canada’s leading business law firm, Stikeman Elliott LLP has been involved in a number of recent and complex income fund transactions, including its representation of Yellow Pages Income Fund in its IPO last month (the largest income fund transaction in Canada to date). Joel Binder, another of Canada’s leading corporate finance practitioners, who also recently joined the partnership’s corporate finance group, has been active in developing a number of structured income fund offerings for Canada’s financial services community.

“These guys have a great market presence and will significantly enhance our REIT and income trust group and bring with them talents that will fit nicely with our leading corporate finance, M&A, structured products and real estate practice groups,” said Senior Partner Bill Braithwaite, who heads the Toronto Corporate Group. “There is still a long way to go to develop innovative legal structures that will fully develop the potential of the income fund industry in Canada. They are a great addition to our team and position us to be frontrunners in the field.”

Jeffrey Singer, who has played a significant role in a number of Canada’s highest profile mergers and acquisitions, describes the move as a ”win-win” for both Stikeman Elliott LLP and themselves. “Stikeman Elliott is known for consistently delivering the highest calibre of talent to some of the most challenging and innovative deals domestically and internationally. We are delighted to be joining forces with them.”

Stikeman Elliott LLP has been named Canada's top-ranked securitization practice group

Stikeman Elliott LLP received the highest ranking as Canada's most frequently recommended law firm for asset securitization and structured derivatives in Lexpert's 2004 Law Firm Rankings.

Stikeman Elliott LLP ranked #1 Canadian Law Firm for Structured Finance and Derivatives

Tuesday, May 25, 2004 Stikeman Elliott LLP is the only Canadian law firm to receive Lexpert's highest ranking as "Most Frequently Recommended" for Asset Securitization and Derivative Structures in 2004.

According to the practice group rankings contained in Lexpert's Canadian Legal Directory 2004, which are based on detailed surveys of many of Canada's top practititoners, Stikeman Elliott LLP and its individual lawyers continue to demonstrate their excellence as leaders in these areas of business law.

For Asset Securitization, Stikeman Elliott's Michael Carman tops the list of "Most Frequently Recommended" practitioners; Michael Rumball is "Repeatedly Recommended"; and Sterling Dietze, who practises in the firm's Montreal office, is "Consistently Recommended." Mark McElheran is recognized as an "Up-And-Coming Practitioner" in this area.

For Derivative Structures, Stikeman Elliott LLP's Michael Carman and Margaret Grottenthaler are recognized as Canada's "Most Frequently Recommended" practitioners; Philip Henderson is "Consistently Recommended"; and Peter Hamilton is "Repeatedly Recommended." For Tax Aspects of Derivative Structures, John Lorito is "Repeatedly Recommended." In Quebec, Marc Barbeau and Edward Claxton of Stikeman Elliott LLP's Montreal office, are "Repeatedly Recommended" for Derivative Structures.