Business Law

The Business Law Group at Cassels offers a complete range of corporate and commercial legal services delivered by a dynamic and experienced team. We apply our knowledge and skills to provide effective responses and innovative solutions to meet all our clients’ needs in a timely manner. We work with a wide range of clients, from small entrepreneurial firms to large private and public companies with local and international interests.

Cassels business lawyers have experience representing every type of stakeholder, including buyers, sellers, borrowers, lenders, shareholders, takeover or acquisition targets, receivers, boards and committees, franchisors, distributors, partnerships and governments and government corporations.

The lawyers in our Business Law Group offer legal and strategic advice to our clients and structure, negotiate and implement all manner of business transactions on their behalf. We are skilled and experienced in all aspects of corporate and commercial law, including:

  • Acquisitions and divestitures, including share and asset purchases and sales
  • Business structuring – corporations, partnerships, business trusts
  • Shareholder and partnership agreements, joint ventures and other strategic alliances
  • Private equity investments, venture capital and angel financings
  • Project financing
  • Supply, licensing, distribution and outsourcing arrangements and other commercial agreements
  • Corporate recapitalizations, receiverships and turnarounds
  • Public/private partnerships
  • Corporate governance
  • Competition matters
  • International trade issues
  • Stock option plans and executive compensation

Our business lawyers have provided legal advice on many prominent, complex and unique transactions and commercial contracts, including:

  • Acting for the purchaser on the acquisition of a National Hockey League franchise and related arena and entertainment complex
  • Acting for the purchaser on the leveraged buyout of one of the largest copper and zinc producers in Canada
  • Acting for several large Canadian based brand name recognized manufacturers, including a footwear manufacturer on its multi-jurisdictional acquisition of a major competitor
  • Acting for a Canadian income fund on its acquisition of a major Canadian cargo transportation company and related initial public offering
  • Acting for a major US software company on several acquisitions of Canadian software companies and assets
  • Acting for a Canadian telecom income fund on its acquisition of a major telecom company and related initial public offering
  • Acting for a large multinational pharmaceutical company on its acquisitions of two competitors, creating one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, and its disposition of non-core businesses
  • Acting for the Province of Ontario in its restructuring of Ontario Hydro and the creation of Ontario Power Generation Inc. and Hydro One Inc.
  • Acting for a renowned mining company on the construction of its electricity transmission line related to a Canadian diamond mine
  • Acting on behalf of a large independent financial services company on its acquisitions of investment dealers and asset managers

International Clients

We have represented a wide variety of clients, both Canadian and international, whose business affairs cross borders. These include financial institutions, major franchisors, e-business companies, manufacturing, retail, consultants and multinationals. We act for Fortune 100 clients, small business with international presence and global financial institutions.

Regardless of its home jurisdiction and other locations in the world, if a company wants to enter the Canadian market, Cassels can assist. This includes assisting in listing stock on Canadian or international stock exchanges and meeting regulatory approval challenges.

Companies doing business in Canada can be helped with:

  • Acquisitions, divestitures or spin offs of Canadian subsidiaries, divisions and operations
  • General business law issues
  • Regulation restructuring or effecting entry to Canada
  • Competition, anti-trust and Investment Canada
  • International tax issues and structuring
  • Bank, insurance, loan and trust regulation
  • Equity and debt financing with a Canadian tranche
  • Cross-border trade, WTO and NAFTA issues
  • Federal and provincial labour and employment laws
  • Federal and provincial tax issues
  • Government relations and regulatory affairs
  • Business reorganization and insolvency for lenders and borrowers
  • Privacy rules affecting American companies with Canadian customers
  • Cross-border and Canadian tax issues and disputes
  • Commercial disputes

The group has special expertise in cross-border structuring tools including those needed to meet regulatory requirements to reduce the tax consequences of acquisitions, sales, securitization, secured finance and capital investment and to simplify and expedite business relations. We are fully familiar with the regulatory legal and marketing requirements involved in the use of these types of cross-border international structuring tools.