John H. Pringle

John Pringle is a partner practicing in the area of corporate commercial law with a focus on corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions and natural resources. He advises clients carrying on business in a broad range of industries, including mineral exploration, mining, oil & gas, transportation, waste disposal and agribusiness. John’s clients range from private businesses to publically traded companies.

John’s securities law experience includes acting as counsel to the issuer (or selling shareholder) in more than ten initial public offerings. He has also provided legal services respecting rights offerings, acquisitions by way of plan of arrangement or takeover bid, reverse takeovers, stock exchange listings, supplemental listings, regulatory compliance matters (including continuous disclosure obligations and corporate governance matters) and private placement offerings.  He has acted for clients respecting the purchase and sale of mineral dispositions and oil & gas properties, option agreements, joint venture agreements, royalty agreements, mineral leases, oil & gas leases, title opinions and timber supply licenses. John has also provided advice and due diligence on several debt financing transactions where Saskatchewan mineral dispositions or oil & gas rights form part of the security. More generally, John is experienced handling the purchase and sale of businesses, commercial real estate transactions, debt financings and the formation and sale of agricultural condominiums.

Representative transactions include

• Vendor’s counsel respecting the sale of an interest in a 170-megawatt natural gas-fueled cogeneration station located in the Alberta oil sands for a purchase price of approximately $40 million.
• Purchaser’s counsel respecting the acquisition of an interest in a 260-megawatt Saskatchewan natural gas-fueled cogeneration station for a purchase price of approximately $120 million.
• Corporate counsel to a Saskatchewan public institution respecting the issue and sale on a private placement basis of $85 million aggregate principal amount of Senior Unsecured Series A Debentures.
• Purchaser’s counsel respecting the cross border acquisition of a Saskatchewan third party natural gas retailer for a purchase price of approximately $25 million.
• Counsel for International Road Dynamics Inc., a TSX listed company, respecting the acquisition of all of its issued and outstanding shares by Quarterhill Inc. (formerly Wi-LAN Inc.) pursuant to a plan of arrangement for aggregate consideration of approximately $63.5 million.
• Counsel to the vendors in the sale of a private Saskatoon headquartered transportation company with an enterprise value of $60 million.
• Counsel for EROS Resources Corp. respecting its merger with Anthem Resources Incorporated by way of plan of arrangement.
• Saskatchewan counsel to Finning Canada Inc. in its approximately $230 million acquisition of the operating assets of the Caterpillar dealership of Kramer Ltd.
• Counsel for Boss Power Corp. respecting the divisive reorganization of that corporation by way of plan of arrangement. The plan of arrangement resulted in certain dissident shareholders of Boss Power Corp. who validly elected, exchanging their common shares of Boss Power Corp. for common shares of Blizzard Finance Corp., a corporation incorporated in order to facilitate the plan of arrangement. The plan of arrangement was the final step in a series of transactions resulting from the negotiated settlement of disputes between Boss Power Corp. and a group of dissident shareholders.
• Counsel for private agri-business company in the formation and sale of grain condominiums near Biggar, Saskatchewan.
• Counsel to the vendors in the sale of a Saskatoon headquartered logistics service provider in the bulk water and fluids transfer sector for aggregate proceeds of approximately $30 million (subject to post closing adjustments) to a TSXV listed company.
• Acted for Input Capital Corp. respecting a short form prospectus offering on a bought deal basis of Class A common voting shares for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $46 million.
• Acted for Assiniboia Farmland Limited Partnership in the sale of its farm land portfolio to a subsidiary entity of the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board.  The farm land portfolio comprised of approximately 115,000 acres of farm land located throughout Saskatchewan and was valued at $128 million subject to final adjustments.
• Counsel for the main acquireror in the reverse takeover of Omineca Mining & Metals Ltd., who sold its interest in CVG Mining Ltd. in consideration of 44,145,900 common shares of Omineca, representing approximately 67.4% of the post-closing issued and outstanding common shares of Omineca, as well as a $5.4 million principal amount 8% unsecured convertible debenture.
• Special Counsel (Securities) to Crown Investments Corporation of Saskatchewan respecting Information Services Corporation’s initial public offering of Class A Limited Voting Shares for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $169 million.
• Acted on the completion of an aggregate $41 million public offering and concurrent private placement of Class A common voting shares of Input Capital Corp., the world’s first agricultural commodity streaming company.
• Counsel for Allstar Energy Limited and its joint venture partners in the sale of its Kindersley Viking oil and gas assets for aggregate cash proceeds (after closing adjustments) of approximately $24.1 million to a TSX listed company.
• Counsel for the acquireror in the reverse takeover of Gespeg Copper Resources Inc. (then Capstock Financial Inc.), who sold its interest in 246 mining claims located in the Gaspe region of Quebec in consideration of 17,150,000 common shares in the capital of Capstock, representing approximately 67.8% of the post-closing issued and outstanding common shares of Capstock.
• Saskatchewan counsel for the disposition of 19 potash exploration permits for aggregate consideration of $260 million.
• Saskatchewan counsel to K+S Aktiengesellschaft in its $434 million acquisition of Potash One Inc. by way of take-over bid.
• Counsel to 49 North Resources Inc. respecting the short form prospectus offering of convertible debentures for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $11.5 million.
• Issuer’s counsel on the $49 million initial public offering of  potash exploration company Athabasca Potash Inc. Saskatchewan counsel respecting the subsequent sale of Athabasca for $341 million to BHP Billiton by way of a plan of arrangement.
• Counsel for the disposition of potash exploration permit for aggregate consideration of $4.7 million.
• Provides ongoing counsel to 49 North Resources Inc., a Saskatchewan focused resource investment company, including acting in connection with the establishment of, and initial public offering by, numerous 49 North flow-through funds, as well as the subsequent merger of the annual flow-through funds into 49 North Resources Inc.

John earned his Bachelor of Laws from the University of Saskatchewan in 2000. He received a Bachelor of Arts (History) from the University of Regina in 1997. He became an associate at McKercher in 2001, and joined the partnership in 2008.

John has prepared papers for the CPLED Saskatchewan Bar Admission Course and Saskatoon Bar Association. He is a member of the Law Society of Saskatchewan and the Canadian Bar Association. John is a member of the firm’s Executive Committee.

John was recently selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers™ in Canada 2024 in the areas of Gaming Law,  Mergers & Acquisitions Law, Mining Law, and Securities Law for Saskatoon. He has been listed in Best Lawyers® since 2014.

John has recently been ranked again in Band 3 for Corporate/Commercial in Saskatchewan by Chambers Canada in their 2024 directory. In the review, John ‘is experienced in advising public and private companies on M&A transactions. He is based in Saskatoon.’