Ian W. Reynolds K.C., ICD.D

Private Investment & Family Office

• Ian serves as a trusted adviser and senior counsel to ultra-high net worth families and their enterprises, private family offices, family owned and employee owned businesses, and their boards. He works closely with founders, principals, next generation owners, and independent directors on matters involving governance architecture, ownership alignment, succession planning, enterprise structuring, and inter-generational transitions. His advice is frequently sought in situations where legal, commercial, and fiduciary considerations must be carefully balanced, including periods of growth, transformation, liquidity events, or leadership change. His work includes advising on governance and succession planning, corporate structuring and reorganizations, asset allocation and investment structures (including equity incentive arrangements), and strategic planning. He regularly leads multi-jurisdictional mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures, and advises on a broad range of financing arrangements and capital structures, including equity, debt, mezzanine, subordinated debt, and quasi equity transactions.
• A significant portion of Ian’s practice involves supporting boards and ownership groups in designing and refining governance frameworks that are fit for purpose as enterprises evolve. This includes advising on board composition and mandates, shareholder and family governance arrangements, decision making authorities, fiduciary duties, and risk oversight. He brings dynamic thinking balanced with a practical understanding of board dynamics and stakeholder expectations, enabling him to guide clients through sensitive governance and control issues with discretion and clarity.

Mergers & Acquisitions – Private Equity

• In addition to his advisory and governance work, Ian has a significant deal and transactional practice and wherein he routinely leads complex domestic and cross border transactions on behalf of private businesses, family enterprises, investment platforms (including family office funds) and private equity sponsors. His deep transactional experience includes multi-jurisdictional mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures, as well as a broad range of financing arrangements, including equity, subordinated debt, mezzanine financings, and structured or quasi equity investments. He is valued for being business minded and his ability to integrate legal execution with strategic objectives, and to manage risk in transactions involving sophisticated counterparties and diverse stakeholder interests. Such private M&A and private equity practice includes advising founders, owner managed businesses, and private equity sponsors on leveraged and management buyouts, takeover bids, going private transactions, restructurings, growth investments, and exits. He regularly advises on governance and control considerations throughout the investment lifecycle, including sponsor management alignment, board oversight, minority protections, and exit readiness.

With over two decades of practice, Ian has contributed legal, governance, and strategic insight through fiduciary and advisory roles on for profit and non-profit boards. This experience reinforces his perspective on effective governance, accountability, and long term enterprise stewardship, and underpins the practical, board level counsel he provides to clients across generations and ownership structures.

• Law Society of Alberta
• Canadian Bar Association
• ‎American Bar Association‎
• Association of Corporate Growth
• Institute of Corporate Directors