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Thomas J. Timmins is a partner in Gowlings' Toronto office, practising business law with a particular emphasis on renewable energy project development, power project finance, infrastructure project mergers and acquisitions, private equity, and venture capital transactions.
Thomas leads the renewable energy practice at Gowlings, working closely with energy and infrastructure companies worldwide. He assists issuers, underwriters and investors on complex equity and debt financing transactions, and has taken numerous companies from the initial idea stage through to the take-out acquisition and public company merger stages.
Thomas has extensive experience in all aspects of renewable energy project development and finance, having been involved in the development of several of Canada’s very first commercial-scale wind and solar generation plants, and has led the Canadian component of many multi-national teams, coordinating merger document negotiations, due diligence processes, clearance submissions and the management of post-closing operational matters.
Thomas serves on a number of corporate boards and is a regular speaker and lecturer on matters of renewable energy project development, electricity sector regulatory matters, corporate governance and energy project development. In addition to his law practice, Thomas is an adjunct professor of law at the University of Windsor Law, developing and leading the innovative Mega-Projects in Canada Course, a seminar focused specifically on the law pertaining to large scale infrastructure project development in Canada and around the world.  Thomas' recent experience includes:
Acting for one of Canada’s premier wind energy developers, since inception – including support during eight separate private equity finance rounds, acting as corporate counsel during the creation of a joint venture with a publicly traded income fund to finance the development of a 100 MW wind farm, acting during sale of the company to a publicly-listed senior entity and continuing to act during various turbine purchase financings with European bank financiers.
Representing a renewable energy facility operations and maintenance sector participant in the development of standard form business contracts for use in relation to generators coming off of original equipment manufacturers' warranties.
Acting on behalf of a Canadian financial institution in relation to the development of standardized Canadian form financial transaction documentation designed specifically for renewable energy project finance.
Representing various renewable energy sector participants on the negotiation of multi-million dollar wind and photovoltaic generating equipment supply agreements and EPC contracts.
Developing standard form contracts for use in Canadian solar energy development, including the development of standardized EPC contracts, template solar array lease-option agreements and solar park joint venture agreements.
Acting for one of Canada's premiere investment banks on a highly complex transaction involving the private placement of shares of a Delaware corporation on the Canadian market in a transaction valued at US$55 million.
Acting as underwriter's counsel on the private placement of $35 million worth of flow-through shares of a TSX-Venture listed mining venture.
Acting for a major European automotive parts manufacturer in a €336,000,000 term facility and revolving credit financing in a transaction involving multiple lenders registering security interest registrations in nine different countries. Recent Publications
- "Managing the Risk in Renewable Energy", The Economist Intelligence Unit, 2011;
- "China Gets Fit - China Implements Solar Feed-In Tariff Program", International Energy Law Review, Issue 7;
- "Wind Energy Law in Ontario", International Energy Law Review, Issue 3, 2011;
- “Wind Energy and the Commercial Bank”, North American Clean Energy Magazine;
- “Canadian Bank Financing of Wind Power Projects”, North American Wind Power Magazine;
- “Distribution Agreements 101 – Dealerships and Distribution Arrangements for Changing Economic Times”, Ontario Home Respiratory Services Association Magazine;
- “Utilizing Advisory Boards to Catalyze Next Stage Company Growth”, Ontario Home Respiratory Services Association Magazine;
- “Raising Private Equity Through Private Placements”, Wind Today
Recent Speaking Engagements:
- "Key Performance Metric Data Sharing in Wind Energy" presentation and paper presented to Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA) Conference 2010;
- "Electricity Sector Contracts for Non-Lawyers" – EUCI's introductory course on Canadian electricity sector contracts;
- "Introduction to Canadian Electricity Regulation – An Introductory Course on Canadian Electricity Sector Regulation" – EUCI's introductory course on Canadian electricity sector regulation;
- “Entry Points for Canada’s Commercial Banks in the Emerging Renewable Energy Sector”, recently presented to commercial bank executives of a Canadian domestic bank;
- “Raising Venture Capital for Renewable Energy Projects”, Alternative Energy Sources and Technology Conference, Boston;
- “Document Assembly and Collaboration Tools in Commercial Contracts Practice”, University of Windsor Law Contracts 1;
- "Shareholder Agreements in Commercial Practice", University of Windsor, Advanced Business Law Course;
- “Wind Energy Venture Finance” presentation, paper and contract templates presented to Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA) Conference 2007
Recent Media Appearances:
- Business News Network (BNN), providing general business commentary regarding the Supreme Court decision in BCE, January 2009;
- Globe & Mail, quoted in “Worker as shareholder: Is it worth it?”, March 2008;
- Triangle Business Journal, general commentary on Canadian renewable in “PSNC want another Natural Gas Rate Hike”, April 2008
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