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Patrice Martin

Partner

Montréal
[email protected]
514.954.2546

Expertise

Enza Tomassi

Practice Assistant

Montréal
[email protected]
514.954.2555 x27357
Patrice’s practice is focused on the technology industry, whether it is on M&A deals, venture capital and private equity transactions, strategic alliances or complex commercial agreements. He has led transactions in various fields such as artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, Ad-Tech and advertising, Ag-Tech, payment solutions, e-commerce, Internet of things (IoT), smart cities, media, telecom & networks, aerospace & defense, photonic, nanocellulose, consulting and IT generally.

He worked for acquirers such as Astral Media, Bell Canada and Lightspeed POS and for investors such as BDC Capital, Fonds de Solidarité FTQ, Cycle Capital, iNovia Capital and Desjardins Capital in numerous investment and exit transactions.  He recently acted on transactions with some of the most recognized tech players in Canada, such as Lightspeed POS, Element AI and Leddartech.

He acted on the “2017 Private Equity Deal of the Year” as selected by the Canadian Venture Capital Association (CVCA). He was also recognized as "Information Technology Lawyer of the Year – Montréal" in the 2017 edition of The Best Lawyers in Canada®. 

Patrice was the Montréal Regional Manager for BLG’s Corporate and Capital Markets Group from 2007 to 2010 and then again from 2017 to 2019. He was elected to the BLG’s National Partnership Board in 2019.

Testimonials

Chambers 2019 Canadian edition

“…very thorough—he looked into everything, which I appreciate…”

Chambers 2019 Canadian edition

"...a solid lawyer..."

Experience

  • Bell Canada in its acquisition of cloud managed and professional service provider FXInnovation.
  • Desjardins Capital and BDC Capital in their investment in Leddartech (auto sensor software maker) in connection with its contemplated business combination with Nasdaq-listed Prospector Capital (SPAC).
  • iNovia Capital as lead investor in a US$20M Series B round in ESG software reporting company Novisto Inc.  
  • BDC Capital-Deep Tech Venture Fund and Celesta Capital (Silicon Valley), as co-lead investors, in semi conductor timing tech Stathera's US$15million Series A funding round.
  • Optable Technologies, a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) data collaboration platform and clean room solution designed for the advertising ecosystem, in its $20M USD Series A financing from a syndicate of investors which included Hearst Ventures, Brightspark Ventures, Desjardins Capital, Deloitte Ventures, asterX, and others.
  • Bell Media in its acquisition of a minority stake in TV, film and animation indie production company Sphere Media.
  • Cycle Capital, Desjardins-Innovatech, Fonds de solidarité FTQ and Investissement Québec in a $38-million funding round in Airex Energy to accelerate the company's plans to expand its production of low-carbon industrial and agricultural products made from biomass.
  • Cycle Capital, Desjardins Capital and Brightspark Ventures in a US$10M Series A financing round in Prevu3D (3D digital twin technology).
  • iNovia Capital and Fonds de solidarité FTQ as co-leads in a US$50 million Series D funding round in Workjam (online workforce management). Blumberg Capital and Demopolis Equity Partners also participated in the round.
  • Two high profile Canadian family offices in their investment in Inlandsis II Fund (carbon emission reduction projects in government regulated carbon markets in North America).
  • CDPQ in a private equity financing round of US $325M in global cybersecurity leader eSentire. This round led by CDPQ and Georgian Partners allowed eSentire to achieve the unicorn status, with a valuation above US$1B
  • BDC Capital in the sale of Budge Studios, one of the world’s biggest mobile developers within the children’s entertainment and education category, to Tilting Point, a leading free-to-play games publisher.
  • BDC Capital, Fonds de Solidarité FTQ, Desjardins Capital and UI Investissement on their equity investment in a US$140 million financing in LeddarTech, a Canadian ADAS and AD sensing technology group ($116 million in Series D funding plus debt facility of $24 million).
  • InvestX Capital, a leading private market secondaries platform and financial technology company based in Vancouver and New York, in its equity raise from strategic investors Jefferies Financial, Virtu Capital and Canaccord Genuity.
  • Investissement Québec in the going-private transaction of EXFO Inc., a provider of testing, monitoring and analytics solutions for fixed and mobile network operators.
  • Optable Technologies Inc., a SaaS data connectivity platform designed for the on-line advertising ecosystem, in its Seed round financing.
  • Bell Media in its acquisition of Octane Racing Group , the exclusive promoter of the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix, the largest annual sports and tourism event in Canada.
  • Sports IQ Analytics Inc., the sports betting technology supplier and odds provider, in its US$7 million series seed funding round.
  • iNovia Capital (as lead investor) and Fonds de solidarité (F.T.Q.) in a $70M venture capital round in WorkJam Inc.
  • Fonds de Solidarité (F.T.Q.), BDC Capital and all other shareholders in the sale of Reflex Photonics Inc. to Smiths Interconnect (U.K.)
  • McKinsey Consulting in its capital investment and strategic agreement with Element AI (AI)
  • Lightspeed POS in its acquisition of iKentoo (POS solutions) in Switzerland
  • Fonds de Solidarité (F.T.Q), Gestion Allard Dubé and other shareholders in the sale of Embrionix Design (IP video processing) to Riedel Communications (Germany)
  • iNovia Capital and other investors in a VC round in Planned Enterprises
  • Lightspeed POS in its acquisition of Chronogolf Inc. (POS solutions)
  • Astral Media in its acquisition of Newad Media
  • Factora Solutions and its shareholders in the sale to PTC (IoT)
  • Enertech, Cycle Capital, Fonds de Solidarité FTQ, BDC Capital and Investissement Quebec in various VC financing rounds of Power Survey
  • BDC Capital, i-Source, Go Capital, Fonds de Solidarité FTQ and Desjardins-Innovatech in a US$23 million financing of Leddartech (LiDAR tech)
  • Cycle Capital, BDC Capital, Desjardins Capital and Lune Rouge on several VC investments in Agrisoma Bioscience Inc
  • BDC Capital, i-Source, Go Capital, Fonds de Solidarité FTQ, Desjardins-Innovatech and Acces Capital in a $130 million financing transaction of Leddartech (LiDAR tech)
  • Cycle Capital and Desjardins-Innovatech in an aggregate $68 million series B financing round in Inocucor Corporation with TPG Art and Pontifax AgTech
  • BDC Capital in its investment in Altitude Sports/Plein Air
  • Bell Media in the acquisition of Cieslok Media Ltd. from Clairvest Fund
  • Christie-Innomed on several acquisitions in the medical equipment industry
  • BDC Capital, EDC, Blackberry Fund and other investors in the sale of Guavus Inc. to Thales Inc. for US $215 million
  • Bell Canada on several outsourcing agreements with different Canadian financial institutions
  • Fonds de Solidarité FTQ in respect of a VC investment in Kaloom Inc
  • Cycle Capital and Desjardins-Innovatech for VC investment rounds in Airex Energy
  • CelluForce Inc. in various financing and strategic alliance agreements, including with Fibria Cellulose S.A. (Brazil)
  • AdGear Technologies and its shareholders in the sale to Samsung Electronics
  • Bell Media in the acquisition of Metromedia from Cogeco
  • BDC Capital on investments in Budge Studios
  • Cobalt Intelligence, Siama Systems, Panache Digital Games and others on early financing rounds
  • FPInnovations on several strategic alliances on innovative wood-fibre based biomaterials (cellulose filaments) and demonstration plants
  • Several major Canadian telecommunications providers in complex infrastructure co-ownership and management arrangements

Beyond Our Walls

Professional Involvement

  • Member, Canadian Technology Law Association ("CAN-TECH Law")
  • Member, Board of Directors of Reseau Capital

Community Involvement

  • Member, Board of Directors of the Institut des troubles d'apprentissage (Learning disabilities institute)

Awards & Recognitions

  • Selected by peers for inclusion in the in the 2024 edition (and since 2013) of The Best Lawyers in Canada® (Information Technology Law; Technology Law) and since 2021 (Mergers and Acquisitions).
  • Recognized in the 2024 (and since 2023) edition of The Canadian Legal Lexpert® Directory (Private Equity), in the 2023 edition (Mergers & Acquisitions), since 2013 (Corporate Mid-Market; Technology Transactions; Computer & IT Law) and since 2020 (Corporate Commercial Law).
  • Recognized in the 2023 (and since 2021) edition of Lexpert Special Edition: Finance and M&A
  • Recognized in the 2023 edition (and since 2020) of Lexpert Special Edition: Technology & Health Sciences
  • Recognized as "Information Technology Lawyer of the Year – Montréal" in the 2017 edition of The Best Lawyers in Canada®.
  • Recognized as a 2017 Acritas Star.

Bar Admission & Education

  • Québec, 1995
  • LLB, Université de Montréal, 1993
  • Canadian Securities Course, 1993