Howard MacKichan is a partner in the Calgary office of Norton Rose Canada. He primarily practises in the area of banking and private capital, but also participates in the project development and finance group.
Mr. MacKichan specializes in private placements by US institutional investors in Canada, and private capital investments in the Canadian energy market. Funds have been placed in Canadian and US dollars, Euros and pound sterling.
He also represents Schedule I, II, and III banks and institutional investors in their capital markets transactions, including large syndicated loans, secured debt, project finance, structured finance and club deals, and has acted for numerous major and intermediate corporations and partnerships in respect of their debt finance arrangements from pre-term sheet stage to completion.
In addition, Mr. MacKichan has extensive experience in financial derivatives, including interest rate, currency exchange and commodity hedging transactions. He has extensive knowledge of the energy industry and resource laws drawn from a number of years of practicing in that area.
Selected client work
Mr. MacKichan's institutional clients include Prudential Insurance, Northwestern Mutual Life, New York Life, MetLife, AIG, ING, Principal Life, Manufacturers Life, Industrial Alliance, Sun Life, Great West Life, Credit Suisse, BNP Paribas, Alberta Treasury Branches, and Mizuho Corporate Bank. His corporate finance clients include EPCOR Utilities, Canadian Pacific Railway, Superior Plus and Keyera Energy.
In addition, he has:
ˇ Represented major institutional investors and public corporations in connection with their leading-edge multi-million and multi-billion dollar project finance transactions, structuring and advising through to completion their corporate finance and long-term bond placement deals in Canada and the United States. He also advises on and participates in international project transactions that Macleod Dixon becomes involved in through its offices in South America and the CIS
ˇ Successfully completed over 75 large private placements in the past two decades on behalf of major institutional investors and private capital firms in the United States, representing over ten billion dollars placed. He currently represents a large number of insurance company investors and private capital firms active in this area
ˇ Acquired a wide variety of industry finance experience, including in the oil and gas sector, oil sands, oilfield services, upstream and midstream facilities, offshore production and storage, underground storage, seismic data, transportation, airline and rail finance, airport infrastructure, forestry, mining and metals, electricity, co-generation, pulp and paper, and agriculture.
ˇ Acted on behalf of government corporations and major pension funds with respect to derivatives transactions, recommending and preparing legislative and trust fund amendments, and negotiating master agreements and credit support documents
ˇ Acted on behalf of natural gas and crude oil marketing companies in setting up commodity swap programs with their customers, and on behalf of banks and other financial institutions in their master agreements with Canadian counterparties
Publications
ˇ Canadian editor, American College of Investment Counsel Newsletter
ˇ "Borrowing and Private Debt Financing," Carswell Alberta Corporations Manual,1993
Rankings and recognitions
ˇ Best Lawyers 2012, 2011 in the area of Banking and Finance
ˇ Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory 2011, Repeatedly Recommended in the area of Banking
ˇ Chambers Global, "The World's Leading Lawyers for Business," in Banking and Finance
ˇ Fellow, American College of Investment Counsel (since 1992), Trustee of the College from 2008 to 2011, and member of its Transaction Process Management Committee
Memberships and activities
ˇ Law Society of Alberta