Overview
Andy Chan is Chair of the International Business Group, and was Managing Partner of two of the firm’s national offices. Andy is also the Co-Leader, International Initiatives. His practice focuses on the most sensitive of client needs ranging across all areas of business and law, inclusive of high-level advisory, transactional work and strategic planning. His specialized national and global cross-border practice includes providing counsel to clients on corporate legal matters, strategic acquisitions, investment structures and contested transactions.
Andy is a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for outstanding contributions to Canada. He was also named Leading Canadian Corporate Lawyer to Watch by Lexpert magazine in its Guide to the Leading US/Canada Cross-Border Corporate Lawyers in Canada, and he is a past winner of the Lexpert Rising Star Award. He is recognized as a Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent® Rated Lawyer, Best Lawyers in Canada for Corporate Law and is regularly listed in The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory as a repeatedly recommended lawyer in the area of Corporate Commercial Law. Andy also received the FACL Lawyer of Distinction Award for significant accomplishments in law and for service to the legal profession, areas of social justice and the community.
Andy was appointed by the government as one of a select number of legal experts to the Business Law Modernization and Burden Reduction Council to advise the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services, the Ministry of the Attorney General and the Ministry of Finance with respect to all aspects of corporate and commercial legislative reform, including Emergency Order O. Reg. 107/20 in relation to the COVID-19 outbreak, elimination of director residency requirements and implementation of written majority shareholder governance.
Andy’s industry experience includes the provision of strategic advice in a variety of sectors, including manufacturing, logistics, real estate development, technology, healthcare, insurance and natural resources. He has counselled public and private multinational organizations, commercial enterprises as well as individual clients in North America, Europe, and Asia in conducting, analyzing or implementing their options across global markets, and domestically.
Andy is also active in the area of government relations, wherein he advises on strategic, public policy and compliance issues relating to all levels of government, including the development of business inbound structures coupled with corporate, investment, immigration and related strategies to access applicable federal or provincial programs.
With over 20 years of practice experience, including at a “Magic Circle” law firm, and then practicing for several years as a commercial litigator, Andy is able to leverage his knowledge of adversarial processes and international and domestic markets to accurately anticipate and respond to the most complex of circumstances, including contentious and high stakes shareholder and commercial disputes. In addition, Andy’s experience before all levels of Courts in Ontario, as well as numerous federal and provincial tribunals, such as the Competition Tribunal, allows him to assist clients to creatively navigate a variety of strategic challenges in harmony with their overall objectives.
Andy is licensed to practice law in Ontario and British Columbia.
Professional achievements & leadership
- Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory - Mergers & Acquisitions, Corporate Commercial Law, ongoing
- Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent® Rated Lawyer, ongoing
- The Best Lawyers in Canada, Corporate Law, 2023
- Appointment to the Business Law Modernization and Burden Reduction Council to advise the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services, the Ministry of the Attorney General and the Ministry of Finance with respect to corporate/commercial legislative reform, 2019– 2020
- FACL Lawyer of Distinction Award, 2019
- Appointed as legal expert to Business Law Advisory Council, 2016 – 2018
- Recipient of Markham Board of Trade Business Excellence Award for achievement in business and professional life, as well as contribution to the community, 2014
- Awarded ASPIRE (Achieving Social & Professional Ideals, Reaching Excellence) award in recognition of generational business leaders, 2014
- Leading Canadian Corporate Lawyer to Watch – Lexpert Guide to the Leading US/Canada Cross-Border Corporate Lawyers in Canada, 2013
- Lexpert Rising Star Award – Top Canadian Lawyers Under 40, 2012
- Recipient of Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal awarded for outstanding contributions to Canada in commemoration of Her Majesty’s accession to the throne, 2012
Notable matters
- Act in relation to numerous portfolio companies of major private equity, hedge and investment funds and their significant global investments with leadership capacities focusing on material issues rectification, profitability and stakeholder relations
- Counsel to Royal Bank of Canada as administrative agent, RBC Capital Markets as sole lead arranger and a syndicate of lenders in connection with an initial $400 million senior revolving commitment with an additional $400 million available through an accordion feature with Tim Hortons Inc. and the TDL Group Corp. as guarantor to provide interim financing to fund the borrower’s share buyback program
- Engaged in the structuring, development and implementation of a complex corporate, intellectual property and immigration strategy for the establishment of a series of high- end food services businesses, which resulted in the first Michelin-starred chef to situate in Toronto on a permanent basis, and the advent of a series of client Michelin star restaurants for the first time in Canada
- Counsel to various international enterprises with global operations, including in relation to over $100 million investments in Canada through the acquisition, development and management of enterprises engaged in the processing, wholesale and distribution of specified primary resources
- Act for St. Joseph Print Group Inc. with respect to various corporate matters, including in relation to its strategic acquisition of personalized marketing firm, Bassett Direct, to deepen St. Joseph’s direct mail offerings into its Interconnected Communication Solutions across all mediums
- Counsel to numerous foreign and local enterprises in the structuring, acquisition, development and operations of various high-end commercial and industrial properties and businesses across Canada in excess of $75 million
- Advised Meitu Investment ltd. (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Meitu, Inc.) with respect to the acquisition from Dream Beyond Holdings Limited (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Leyou Technology Holdings Limited) of a minority interest in Dreamscape Horizon Limited and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Digital Extremes US Inc.
- Canadian counsel to China Maple Leaf Education Systems Limited, an international school, in relation to its Hong Kong Stock Exchange Initial Public Offering of approximately US $123 million
- Canadian counsel to J.P. Morgan-led syndicate of underwriters in connection with $350 million senior convertible notes issuance by Biovail Corporation in Canada and the United States
Thought leadership
- Business Laws of Canada, West (a Thomson Reuters business), ongoing
- Panel Speaker, Cross-Border M&A: Considerations and Challenges – Certified Business Valuator Institute, June 8 – 9, 2023
- Speaker, Canadian Lawyer – Young Lawyers Summit (Virtual), 2020
- Speaker, FTA Forum (JIBAC), 2016 – 2018
- Quoted, Chinese Detentions raises fears of Canadian business chill, rethink of travel plans (CBC News); Second Canadian questioned in China as Huawei fallout continues (Bloomberg News), December 13, 2018
- Opening remarks, (Toronto Blockchain Impact Summit), September 28, 2018
- Speaker, NAFTA and the Future of Trade - Impacting Your Business (Vaughan Economic Summit), September 27, 2018
- Presenter, Ontario Chamber of Commerce Investment and Trade Conference, 2016
- Co-chair, presenter and moderator of the 4th Annual CCC Dialogue, 2015
- Panel Speaker, Cross Border Legal Considerations (FACL), 2014 – 2015
- Panel Speaker, Roundtable Working Breakfast with the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration and Ontario’s Business Leaders in partnership with the Ontario Chamber of Commerce for the development and transformation of policies related to inbound investment and business immigration, 2013
- Panel Speaker, China Business Workshop for Attracting Chinese Investment (Canada Chinese Business Council), 2013
- Presenter, Business Investment and Development Unit (Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food), 2013
- Co-chair and Speaker, Annual Business and Securities Law and Practice Conference (Insight), 2010 – 2012
- Panel Speaker, Business in the Americas (Multilaw) in Ohio, USA, 2012
- Co-host and Speaker at the Canada-China Business Seminar in Shanghai, China, 2012
- Host and Speaker at a press conference and opening event, together with Minister of Economic Development and Innovation, Minister of Culture, Tourism and Sport and representatives from the Canadian Embassy (Beijing) with respect to a significant investment into Ontario by a Chinese enterprise with operations in Liaoning, Jilin Province and the Dayaowan Free Trade Zone, 2012
- Presenter to the Governor of XuanWu District (Nanjing City) with respect to the considerations for Canadian Inbound Investment by Foreign Entities, 2012
- Co-presenter to the Vice-Governor of Jiangsu Province, the Deputy Consul General and their respective contingents on Canadian corporate and intellectual property law hosted by the Premier’s Office and the Ontario Office of International Relations and Protocol, 2012
- The Decision to Block the ATK/MDA Deal, Business Law in Canada: Recent Developments, 2008
- National Instrument 51-102 – Changes to Requirements of Reporting Issuers to File Material Contracts, Business Law in Canada: Recent Developments, 2008
- Cried Because I Had No Shoes - (CAEM), 2002
- Competition Law in Canada, 1999
Professional memberships
- International Bar Association, present
- Canadian Bar Association, present
- Founding Director, JIBAC, 2012 - present
- Past President and Director, Markham, Richmond Hill and Vaughan Chinese Business Association, 2005 - present
- Director, The Cross-Cultural Community Service Association, 2024
- Founding Director, China-Canada Economic Growth Alliance, 2016 - 2023
- Member, York Region Police District Community Liaison Committee, 2016 - 2018
- Advisory Board, Canadian General Counsel Awards, 2014 - 2015
- Director, Markham Stouffville Hospital, 2012 - 2014
Bar admissions & education
- British Columbia, 2015
- Ontario, 2002
- Juris Doctor, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, 2000
- Bachelor of Arts (Commerce), Rotman School of Business, University of Toronto, 1997
