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Articles of Interest

AVOIDING THE GOTCHA AS A SELLER

Several recent experiences in midmarket M&A transactions have caused me to insist on an unusual representation and warranty from Buyers.  In some cases, buyer’s advisers are likely to conduct such extensive due diligence investigations that the Buyer may...

The Butterfly Reorganization

In a different article dealing with resolving shareholder disputes, I dealt with a couple of alternatives to resorting to litigation as a solution.  In some circumstances, particularly if the parties are capable of more reasonable discussion, and the nature of the...

Resolving Shareholder Disputes without Destroying the Business

When the shareholders of a business can no longer work with each other without serious disagreements and acrimony, the business and the value of each shareholder’s interest in the business will quickly deteriorate, especially if no shareholders’ agreement exists to...

Estate Freeze and the Capital Gains Exemption

The concept of an estate freeze has been the subject of considerable commentary for about 50 years, going back to when Canada first started taxing capital gains.  An estate freeze is a transaction in which the owner of an asset crystallizes and fixes the value of...

The Importance of Shareholder Agreements

Any business that has two or more shareholders or equity investors should seriously consider having a shareholder agreement to protect not only the shareholders but also the business itself.  Too often, the shareholders of a start-up business are reluctant to...

Estate Freeze – What Is It? And What It Does?

An estate freeze fixes the value of the asset that is frozen, such as shares of a corporation, in the hands of the owner until the time of death, allowing the freezor to calculate the expected tax liability that arises on death. A further benefit of an estate freeze...