Davies

Abraham Leitner

Abe Leitner is a partner in the Taxation practice in the New York office. He has planned numerous cross-border transactions for U.S. and foreign individuals and corporations. He has structured international joint ventures involving real estate investments in the United States and abroad and has advised multinational corporations on cross-border mergers and acquisitions. Abe has advised insurance companies, hedge funds, real estate developers, REITs, assisted living providers, manufacturers and high net worth individuals. He is the Chair of the Young IFA Network Committee, IFA USA Branch.

Representative Work

  • Acted for Fronteer Gold Inc. in connection with its $2.3-billion acquisition by Newmont Mining Corporation. The transaction was structured as a plan of arrangement providing for cash consideration and the spin off of shares of Pilot Gold Inc., a new TSX-listed company holding exploration assets, to the former shareholders of Fronteer Gold.

  • Acted for Atlas Holdings LLC in connection with its acquisition, together with Blue Wolf Capital Management, of a pulp mill in Pictou, Nova Scotia from Neenah Paper, Inc.

  • Acted for Cadim Inc. (a division of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec) in connection with its partnership arrangements with Westmont Hospitality Group and Cadbridge Investors LP, and acted for Cadbridge and InnVest REIT in connection with their joint negotiated takeover bid for Legacy Hotels REIT in a transaction valued at approximately $2.5 billion.

  • Acting for a syndicate of underwriters led by Canaccord Genuity and National Bank Financial in connection with an initial public offering of HealthLease Properties Real Estate Investment Trust.

  • Acted as U.S. tax counsel for H&R Real Estate Investment Trust in connection with a bought deal financing pursuant to which it issued $262 million aggregate principal amount of stapled units and convertible debentures.

  • Acted as U.S. tax counsel for H&R Real Estate Investment Trust in connection with a bought deal financing pursuant to which it issued $125 million aggregate principal amount of stapled units.

  • Acted for Atlas Holdings LLC and Blue Wolf Capital Partners LLC in connection with the sale of Northern Resources Nova Scotia Corporation (the parent company of Northern Pulp, the Pictou County kraft pulp mill, and Northern Timber, which owns forest land) to Paper Excellence Canada Holdings Corporation.

  • Acted as U.S. tax counsels for H&R Real Estate Investment Trust in connection with a bought deal financing pursuant to which it issued $100 million aggregate principal amount of 5.90 per cent Series D convertible unsecured subordinated debentures due June 30, 2020.

  • Acted for Kimco North Trust III, an entity controlled by Kimco Realty Corp., a leading U.S.-based REIT, in connection with private placement offerings of $150 million principal amount.

  • Acted as U.S. tax counsels for H&R REIT in its two separate $115-million bought deal offerings of senior unsecured debentures, due 2015 and 2017, respectively.

  • Acted for Fronteer Development Group Inc. in its successful unsolicited insider bid for the remaining 58% of Aurora Energy Resources Inc. not already owned by Fronteer, in a transaction valuing Aurora at $175 million.

  • Acted for H&R Real Estate Investment Trust which effected a Plan of Arrangement transferring certain notes issued by H&R (U.S.) Holdings, Inc. (a wholly owned U.S. subsidiary of H&R) in the principal amount of US$125 million to H&R Finance Trust.

  • Acted for Montréal-based Como Diffusion Inc. in regard to GB Merchant Partners, an affiliate of Gordon Brothers Group, and Crystal Capital acquiring a majority position in Como Diffusion's Como Fred David business, with Como's principals retaining a substantial stake.

  • Acted for Schonbek Worldwide Lighting Inc. and its affiliated companies in connection with their sale to Swarovski US Holding Ltd., a subsidiary of Swarovski International Holding.

  • Acted for Barzel Industries Inc. (formerly Symmetry Holdings Inc.) in its acquisition of Novamerican Steel Inc. for a purchase price of US$585 million. This transaction was only the second time that a US special purpose acquisition company ("SPAC") acquired a US public company.

  • Acted for IPC US Real Estate Investment Trust in its strategic process and ultimate sale of its assets to Everclear Acquisition Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Behringer Harvard REIT I, in a US$1.4-billion all-cash transaction.

  • Acted for Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited in its negotiated share exchange takeover bid for Cumberland Resources Ltd. valued at $710 million.

  • Acted for Kimco North Trust III, an entity controlled by Kimco Realty Corp., a leading U.S.-based REIT, in connection with its private placement offering of $200 million principal amount of 5.18% notes due 2013.

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PUBLICATIONS

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Recognition

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Professional Affiliations

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Chair, Young IFA Network Committee, IFA USA Branch

NYC Bar Association Committee on Taxation of Business Entities

Foreign Activities of U.S. Taxpayers CommitteeTax Section of the American Bar Association

The Inbound U.S. Activities of Foreign Taxpayers and the Outbound Foreign Activities of U.S. Taxpayers Committees of the Tax Section of the New York State Bar Association

International Fiscal Association

Board Memberships

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Community Involvement

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Teaching Engagements

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Speaking Engagements

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Abe was a panel member of the Annual Conference of the USA Branch of the International Fiscal Association addressing the U.S. Model Treaty approach to hybrid entities. He was part of the panel at the Joint Meeting of the United States and Canada branches of the International Fiscal Association, addressing U.S.-Canada Cross Border Financing Structures. Abe was a member of the American Bar Association panel addressing the "Use of Derivatives to Avoid U.S. Taxation of Effectively Connected Income".

Articles and Publications

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Abe has written numerous articles and speaks frequently on current topics in international tax. He served as an Editor of the Journal of Taxation and has written numerous articles for the Journal. Abe has also written articles for the Journal of Taxation of Global Transactions, the Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, and Tax Notes. Some of his articles include, "Selected Thoughts on the Pending Protocol to the U.S.-Canada Income Tax Treaty" and "Selected U.S. Tax Developments - New Canada-U.S. Protocol Contains Hybrid Entity Surprises".

While at Columbia, Abe was an editor of the Columbia Business Law Review.

Abraham Leitner
Abraham Leitner
Partner
Office:
New York
Tel:
212.588.5508
Email:
aleitner@dwpv.com
Bar Admissions:

New York, 1996

Education:

New York University, LL.M. (Taxation), 2000

Columbia University, J.D. (Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar), 1996 

Touro College, B.S. (summa cum laude), 1992