Biography: Competition

Jay Holsten is chair of the competition and antitrust group at Torys LLP. A merger specialist, Jay has led some of the most complex and high-profile merger transactions in Canada in recent years and, together with his team at Torys, has obtained the timely and efficient Canadian approval of numerous international merger transactions.

Jay has successfully negotiated the merger notification and review process for clients in most major industries, including agriculture, automotive, metals and mining, new media, oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, professional services, pulp and paper, radio and television broadcasting, real estate, telecommunications and transportation. He has developed particular expertise in the Canadian financial services sector (banking, insurance, securities) and has been involved in the most significant M&A transactions in the sector over the past 15 years.

Jay also acts for a number of major participants in the pharmaceutical sector, where he advises clients on the competition law aspects of a variety of business arrangements, including marketing and distribution arrangements, and patent litigation and related settlements.

In addition to advising foreign and domestic clients on the competition law aspects of their strategic business arrangements in Canada, Jay also regularly advises clients in connection with abuse of dominance and domestic and multi-jurisdictional cartel investigations.

Jay has been recognised a leading Canadian competition law practitioner by Chambers & Partners' Chambers Global: World's Leading Lawyers for Business, The Client's Guide 2011, Law Business Research's Who's Who Legal – The International Who's Who of Business Lawyers 2011, Practical Law Company's Which Lawyer? Yearbook 2011, Lexpert/Thomson Canada's Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory 2011, and Woodward White's Best Lawyers in Canada 2010/11.

Jay is a member of the executive committee of the national competition law section of the Canadian Bar Association, and he is a past chair of the section's mergers committee.

Jay is a frequent speaker on Canadian competition law matters and the author of numerous articles that discuss competition law and policy.

Jay received his law degree from the University of Ottawa (Gold Medallist) in 1985, and he became a partner at Torys in 1992.