Business Law

Business Law at Harper Grey

Harper Grey has a core group of senior lawyers focused on offering their clients corporate legal advice.  We provide legal services for individuals, corporations and other business entities dealing with matters that arise from operating a business, such as acquisitions, sales, financing, leasing, employment issues and other contractual affairs.

In addition, several members of the Business Law group are experienced in the area of wills, estates and estate planning.  This group works with individuals and families who own businesses to design solutions for estate planning issues.  You may read more about this practice in our wealth preservation section.

Our Areas of Focus

• Business, Sales and Acquisitions
• Incorporations and Corporate Re-organizations
• Personal Property Transactions and Financing Transactions
• Real Property Transactions and Real Property Financing
• Leasing
• Wills and Estate Planning

Representative Experience

Our significant cases include:

• Acquisition and disposition of real estate holdings for local and national corporations
• Purchase and disposition of a BC company for its software licensing capability throughout North America
• Purchase of a BC company for its software technology for a US company
• Purchase and sale of interests of minority shareholders in closely held corporations
• Purchase and sale of dental and medical practices
• Advice regarding public private partnerships
• Represented Hollinger Inc., Southam Inc. and other companies in the acquisition of over 100 newspaper businesses at locations in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and other provinces in Canada over the past seven years
• Represented a Japanese trading company in the purchase of a partnership interest in a pulp mill in British Columbia
• Represented a private company in purchasing a public road construction and maintenance business from the British Columbia Provincial Government
• Represented a major international chemical company in the sale of an island in British Columbia with contaminated groundwater resulting from over 70 years of mixing explosives and other chemicals
• Represented the White Spot/Shato Holdings Group in numerous real estate and commercial transactions since 1983
• Represented REIT on its 2005 British Columbia apartment portfolio acquisition and on the subsequent financing of those properties
• Represented a Bentall Centre co-owner on the $60 million refinancing of the other owner’s project debt
• Represented a Canadian pension fund on the sale of a major British Columbia shopping centre ($50 million)
• Represented the Korean-sponsored majority owner of a $200 million mixed use residential/commercial/hotel complex on various matters including hotel financing, franchise and management arrangements and the joint venture dissolution
• Represented a purchaser on the real property and business acquisition of two regulated retirement projects involving some 300 employees, dealing with regulatory approvals and structuring the new operating arrangements

For more information about our experience in this area please read the profiles of the lawyers in this group.

Contact Person

The Chair of our Business Law Group is John Brown.  Please contact him at 604.895.2803 or jbrown@harpergrey.com.