Ben Slager

Practice Areas

Private Equity

Venture Capital

Business Law

Career

Ben is a business lawyer with over 25 years’ experience representing clients on M&A, private equity, angel and venture capital transactions, and a host of other complex business law matters, including shareholder disputes. Ben is also an active investor, and is currently on the Board of several tech-based companies, is the Chair of Nanozen (industrial (including mining and pharma) real-time, wearable air particle monitoring) and has, for over 10 years, been the Chair of Tiger 21 Vancouver (North America’s preeminent peer learning group for successful, active entrepreneurs who are stewarding personal wealth of $20MM and greater).

Clients include business owners and entrepreneurs, investors (including angel investors), private and public companies, limited partnerships and trusts, venture capital and private equity funds, investment banks, governments and subordinate public agencies. Ben has practiced in the areas of information and life sciences technology, food production, power generation, transportation (including work with rail carriers, commercial ferries, airlines, shipping and bus fleets), mining, book publishing, heavy construction, manufacturing (OEM), professional services, large scale agriculture, forestry, wholesale and distribution.

As Ben is proud of saying, over the years he has worked on some of British Columbia’s largest – and some of its smallest – transactions.

Industry Sector Expertise

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and private equity transactions.

Venture capital, including angel capital investments.

Complex and unique commercial arrangements, including joint venture and development agreements, distribution agreements, licensing or royalty structures, and the settlement of complex litigation.

Experience

- Sale of an IT-based business to a large US strategic.

- Purchase of an IT-based business by a large US strategic.

- Sale of BC-based manufacturer with divisions in China, the US and the Middle East to a US strategic.

- Financing of an online cooking school, and the purchase of a bricks and mortar school.

- Financing of various start-up enterprises for high net worth (HNW) angel investors as follows: a start-up with efficiency software for wind turbines; a start-up with microneedle IP; a life sciences company using AI combined with proprietary technology for disease screening.

- Sale of large scale agricultural infrastructure for conversion to cannabis production from a BC- based operator to a large Canadian public company.

- Investment in a small, private apparel company by a very large, public apparel company.

- Purchase of various tourism-related businesses.

- Sale of a local food business to a US PE fund.

- Sale of music industry rights to a large US strategic.

- Working alongside a group of “sustainable investment” leaders in the formation of a private equity fund for high net worth investors across Canada and the United States (ongoing), and investments from the Fund throughout North America in product and food distribution and processing companies.

- Investments in, and exit from, an IT business located in Vancouver by a group of US-based “super angels”.

- Spin-out of a division to certain managers in the IT sector (acting for the purchasing managers).

- Purchase of a distressed higher education center from shareholders located around the world.

- Establishment of a NYC-based organization for ultra HNW investors in Canada.

- Sale of a new, online business to an international travel operator.

- Acquisition of distressed assets involving hundreds of franchises.

- Purchase (from Receiver) of $20 million in assets in the hothouse industry.

- Combination of two of BC’s largest forestry operators.

- Negotiations for Imperial Metals with First Nations with respect to its development of BC’s newest operating copper/gold mine in BC (negotiations spanning nine years – completed in 2016).

Education