Investors

Overview

Investors looking at investing in an investment fund can benefit from Lavery CAPITAL’s experience in advising various investors such as pension funds, regulated entities, not-for-profit organizations and international investors in structuring their investment to achieve their business objectives while complying with their regulatory framework and optimizing their tax structure. Our deep knowledge and our strong track record with respect to fund structures makes us the best business partner to negotiate the terms of your investment and to help you negotiate and structure any co-investment opportunity.

Services

  • Providing tax, pension and regulatory advice for the following types of investors:
    • Pension funds
    • Public institutional investors
    • Labour-sponsored funds
    • Regulated entities
    • Family Offices
    • International investors
    • Corporate venture firms
    • Not-for profit and charitable organizations
    • High net worth individuals
    • Sovereign wealth funds
  • Review and negotiation of the investment fund documents (including side letters)
  • Structuring and negotiation of co-investments and any other forms of direct investments
  • Negotiation and implementation of secondary market acquisition and dispositions

Representative work

  • Representation of the Alouette aluminum smelter with respect to its equity stake in the Fonds Cycle Capital III, a private equity fund specialized in the clean technologies sector
  • Representation of a group of private investors in connection with the design of a complex structure of limited liability partnerships and cooperatives of members operating in the metals and recycling field
  • Quebec counsel to a group of investors in connection with their investment in the capital of iNovia Investment Fund 2015, the latest venture capital fund managed by iNovia Capital
  • Representation of a pension fund with respect to an investment in IFM Global Infrastructure Canada, a private equity fund specialized in infrastructure assets
  • Representation of a pension fund with respect to a $10 million investment in a private investment fund specialized in real estate assets
  • Creation of five private equity funds in Canada, the United States and the Cayman Islands (including four open-ended funds) managed by Axium Infrastructure
  • Creation of two venture capital funds located in Canada and the Island of Guernsey, managed by White Star Capital and specialized in social media, e-commerce, video games and mobile applications
  • Creation of Club Éolectric, a private equity investment fund in wind power projects
  • Preparation and renewal of the offering documents of GBC Mutual Funds and advise to Pembroke Private Wealth Management, its fund manager, with respect to regulatory compliance matters
  1. Artificial Intelligence and the 2017 Canadian Budget: is your business ready?

    The March 22, 2017 Budget of the Government of Canada, through its “Innovation and Skills Plan” (http://www.budget.gc.ca/2017/docs/plan/budget-2017-en.pdf) mentions that Canadian academic and research leadership in artificial intelligence will be translated into a more innovative economy and increased economic growth. The 2017 Budget proposes to provide renewed and enhanced funding of $35 million over five years, beginning in 2017–2018 to the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) which connects Canadian researchers with collaborative research networks led by eminent Canadian and international researchers on topics including artificial intelligence and deep learning. These measures are in addition to a number of interesting tax measures that support the artificial intelligence sector at both the federal and provincial levels. In Canada and in Québec, the Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) Program provides a twofold benefit: SR&ED expenses are deductible from income for tax purposes and a SR&ED investment tax credit (ITC) for SR&ED is available to reduce income tax. In some cases, the remaining ITC can be refunded. In Québec, a refundable tax credit is also available for the development of e-business, where a corporation mainly operates in the field of computer system design or that of software edition and its activities are carried out in an establishment located in Québec. This 2017 Budget aims to improve the competitive and strategic advantage of Canada in the field of artificial intelligence, and, therefore, that of Montréal, a city already enjoying an international reputation in this field. It recognises that artificial intelligence, despite the debates over ethical issues that currently stir up passions within the international community, could help generate strong economic growth, by improving the way in which we produce goods, deliver services and tackle all kinds of social challenges. The Budget also adds that artificial intelligence “opens up possibilities across many sectors, from agriculture to financial services, creating opportunities for companies of all sizes, whether technology start-ups or Canada’s largest financial institutions”. This influence of Canada on the international scene cannot be achieved without government supporting research programs and our universities contributing their expertise. This Budget is therefore a step in the right direction to ensure that all the activities related to artificial intelligence, from R&D to marketing, as well as design and distributions, remain here in Canada. The 2017 budget provides $125 million to launch a Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy for research and talent to promote collaboration between Canada’s main centres of expertise and reinforce Canada’s position as a leading destination for companies seeking to invest in artificial intelligence and innovation. Lavery Legal Lab on Artificial Intelligence (L3AI) We anticipate that within a few years, all companies, businesses and organizations, in every sector and industry, will use some form of artificial intelligence in their day-to-day operations to improve productivity or efficiency, ensure better quality control, conquer new markets and customers, implement new marketing strategies, as well as improve processes, automation and marketing or the profitability of operations. For this reason, Lavery created the Lavery Legal Lab on Artificial Intelligence (L3AI) to analyze and monitor recent and anticipated developments in artificial intelligence from a legal perspective. Our Lab is interested in all projects pertaining to artificial intelligence (AI) and their legal peculiarities, particularly the various branches and applications of artificial intelligence which will rapidly appear in companies and industries. The development of artificial intelligence, through a broad spectrum of branches and applications, will also have an impact on many legal sectors and practices, from intellectual property to protection of personal information, including corporate and business integrity and all fields of business law. In our following publications, the members of our Lavery Legal Lab on Artificial Intelligence (L3AI) will more specifically analyze certain applications of artificial intelligence in various sectors and industries.

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  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.

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