Ali El Haskouri Partner, Lawyer

Ali El Haskouri Partner, Lawyer

Bureau

  • Montréal

Phone number

514 877-3066

Fax

514-871-8977

Bar Admission

  • Québec, 2010

Languages

  • Arabic
  • English
  • French

Profile

Partner

Ali El Haskouri is a member of the Business Law group and focuses his practice on financing, mergers and acquisitions and general corporate and commercial law matters.

In particular, Mr. El Haskouri has acquired a unique expertise in investment, venture capital and equity financing in Quebec. He represents many institutional investors during financing operations and regularly assists his clients in corporate purchase and sale transactions and in debt and equity financing (private equity and venture capital) transactions.

He has solid experience in business financing at all the stages of their life cycles (pre-start-up, start-up, development and marketing), including:

  • Debt financing (bank syndication, subordinated loans, convertible debentures, secured loans, etc.);
  • Stake acquisition (co-investment in venture capital and investment in mature businesses).

In practical terms, Mr. El Haskouri is often called upon to advise his clients in financing matters and the negotiation and drafting of the following:

  • Subscription agreements and shareholder agreements in the context of venture capital investments and acquisition of stakes in major businesses;
  • Credit agreements, inter-creditor agreements, confidentiality agreements and various contractual instruments.

Over the years, he also acquired extensive experience in financing mining companies of all sizes. He is also known for his expertise in real estate and project financing and for drafting agreements and making loan security arrangements.

Prior to joining Lavery, he was legal counsel at Investissement Québec, a position he held for nine years. Through this role, he gained more experience in the financial sector and he has become the ideal person to meet local businesses’ needs.

Representative mandates

Mining law

  • Representation of Yamana Gold Inc. in several acquisitions of mining rights in Quebec
  • Representation of QMX Gold Corporation in the sale of certain mining assets in Quebec
  • Representation of Fonds de solidarité des travailleurs du Québec (F.T.Q.) in the implementation of a subordinated loan in favour of Minerai de fer Québec Inc.

Mergers and acquisitions

  • Representation of Investissement Québec in the acquisition of a minority interest in Logibec Inc.
  • Representation of Investissement Québec in the acquisition of a minority interest in Averna Technologies Inc.
  • Representation of sellers in the acquisition of Krome Services Inc. by Beaver Holdings Group Inc.
  • Representation of sellers in the acquisition of Krome Services Inc. by Beaver Holdings Group Inc.

Venture Capital

  • Representation of Investissement Québec in a Series A financing round in favour of Nesto Inc.
  • Representation of Investissement Québec in a Series B financing round in favour of Algolux Inc.
  • Representation of Investissement Québec in a Series B financing round in favour of TickSmith Inc.
  • Representation of Fonds de solidarité des travailleurs du Québec (F.T.Q.) and Investissement Québec in a Series A financing round in favour of Worximity Inc.

Project financing and real estate

  • Representation of Desjardins, Ressources Québec and Investissement Québec in the implementation of project financing to support the construction and long-term production and export operations of a wood pellet plant producing wood pellets from forest biomass.
  • Representation of Investissement Québec in project financing for the construction of the Aéroport de Montréal REM station.
  • Representation of Groupe Sélection in financing construction projects of many mixed-use buildings.
  • Representation of Mediterranean Shipping Company Inc. in financing their acquisition of the La Presse building. 

Secured financing and subordinated debt

  • Representation of the the ad hoc committee of first lien lenders to Cirque du Soleil in connection with restructuring the existing syndicated financing and the granting of new syndicated financing.
  • Representation of Groupe Selection in setting up syndicated financing.
  • Representation of Investissement Québec in setting up a subordinated debt in favour of Alithya Group Inc.
  • Representation of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in setting up Canadian Hockey League financing.
  • Representation of La Presse (2018) Inc. in connection with financing granted by the National Bank of Canada
  • Representation of National Bank of Canada in the establishment of credit facilities in favour of Technologie Flinks Inc.
  • Representation of National Bank of Canada in the establishment of credit facilities in favour of Ready Education (Canada) inc.

Education

  • LL.B., Université de Sherbrooke, 2009
  • Law certificate, Université de Montréal, 2007
  1. Lavery helps NorthStar to close an investment round worth approximately CA$ 47 million

    On December 23, 2022, NorthStar Earth & Space Inc. closed a Series C investment round worth approximately CA$ 47 million, with Cartesian Capital Group, LLC, as lead investor through its fund, Pangaea Three Acquisition Holdings III, LLC, Telesystem Space Inc., Luxembourg Future Fund – Co-Investments SA, the Québec Government through its mandatary Investissement Québec, and the Luxembourg Space Sector Development SCSp funded by the world’s leading connectivity solutions provider, SES, and the Luxembourg Government. With this investment, NorthStar will be able to fully finance its Space Situational Awareness (SSA) development project and the launch of its first three monitoring satellites scheduled for mid-2023. Lavery was privileged to represent NorthStar in this important mandate. Our partner, Ms. France Camille De Mers, led the transaction with the support of Mr. Philippe Brassard and Ms. Pamela Cifola, in particular. Our partners Mr. Ali El Haskouri and Mr. André Vautour also helped make the transaction a success. — NorthStar Earth & Space Inc. is the first commercial enterprise to monitor all near-Earth orbits from space and combine data from a variety of ground-based sensors to provide more extensive coverage. Its suite of high-speed information services accurately tracks and predicts the position of space objects to enable safety in spaceflight. With a head office in Montréal, Canada, European subsidiary in Luxembourg and an American subsidiary in McLean, Virginia, NorthStar is solving the ever-growing threat of space collisions, and, ultimately empowering humanity to preserve our planet.

    Read more
  2. Lavery represents Evolution Insurance in its merger with GroupAssur

    On April 20, 2021, GroupAssur, a managing general agent (MGA) offering specialty insurance products across Canada, announced its merger with our client Evolution Insurance, a wholesaler specializing in the underwriting of complex liability and construction risks. The merger makes GroupAssur Canada’s largest independent managing general agent in property and casualty insurance. Evolution Insurance’s expertise will enable GroupAssur to expand its product offering into target markets across Canada. A Lavery team led by Martin Pichette and Sébastien Vézina and composed of Jean-Paul Timothée, Gabriella Settino, Isabelle Normand and Florence Fournier (transactional) and Ali El Haskouri, Bernard Trang and Ana Nascimento (financing) played a significant role in representing Evolution Insurance’s interests throughout the transaction.

    Read more