Steven McKoen, KC

Steven's recent representative transactions include acting as counsel to:

Mergers & Acquisitions - Public Target

• Azarga Uranium Corp. on its agreement to be acquired by enCore Energy Corp. in a transaction valued at approximately C$170-million

• Correvio Pharma Corp. in its agreement to be acquired by ADVANZ Pharma Corp. Limited for a total acquisition price of approximately US$76-million

• Nevsun Resources Ltd. with respect to its acquisition by Zijin Mining Group Co. Ltd. for C$1.86-billion and its response to Euro Sun Mining Inc. and Lundin Mining Corporation's non-binding unsolicited proposal to acquire Nevsun for C$1.5-billion

• Nextview New Energy Lion Hong Kong Limited in the purchase of all shares of Vancouver listed company Lithium X Energy Corp. for approximately C$265-million through a plan of arrangement

• Reservoir Minerals Inc. with respect to its acquisition by Nevsun Resources Ltd. for US$440-million and an associated US$135-million financing

• SciVac Therapeutics Inc. in the reverse take-over of Levon Resources Ltd. by SciVac Ltd. and in SciVac's all stock acquisition of VBI Vaccines Inc.

Mergers & Acquisitions - Private Target

• Later.com on its acquisition by Mavrck, in a deal funded by Summit Partners

• Absolute Software Corporation on its US$340-million acquisition of NetMotion Software, Inc.

• Bruckmann, Rosser & Sherrill & Co. Inc. on its fund investments in Organika Health Products Inc., Canada Pooch Ltd. and Shearwater Research Inc.

• Digital Colony Partners and EQT Infrastructure IV Fund as Canadian counsel in connection with their consortium's US$14.3-billion agreement to acquire, recapitalize and take private Zayo Group Holdings, Inc.

• Timber Investments Ltd. on its acquisition of a 51% interest in Columbia Containers Ltd., a container terminal operator in Vancouver, Canada, from Providence Grain Group

• MHR Fund Management LLC in connection with the sale of 10-million common shares of Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. for C$518-million

• Macquarie Infrastructure Partners III L.P. on its C$393-million private equity investment and subsequent sale in the C$5.125-billion recapitalization of GFL Environmental Inc.

Financings

• D-Wave Systems Inc. in its going public transaction through a merger wth a SPAC, DPCM Capital, Inc., in a deal with an implied value of US$1.2-billion

• Thinkific Labs Inc. on its C$160-million initial public offering

• Tasktop Technologies Incorporated on its C$100-million in new financing from Sumeru Equity Partners

• Kadestone Capital Corp. on its formation and initial public offering on the TSX Venture exchange

• Trevali Mining Corporation on its C$34.5-million overnight marketed public equity offering

• ITOCHU Corporation on its investment in Eguana Technologies Inc.

• HTEC Hydrogen Technology & Energy Corporation on Chart Industries, Inc.'s 25% and I Squared Capital's 35% equity investment in HTEC

Mining (Commercial Agreements)

• Negotiating and renegotiating offtake agreements for copper, iron ore, lead, molybdenum, nickel, zinc, gold and uranium from multiple producers

• Negotiating direct and synthetic stream agreements involving both primary and byproduct metals for both capital raising and acquisition transactions in North America, Latin America and Africa

• Negotiating the structuring and acquisition of NSR and NPI royalty agreements for numerous mining projects

• Negotiating option, earn-in and joint venture agreements for numerous mineral exploration properties

Steven was appointed King's Counsel in 2018 and was one of 52 recipients of a national Lexpert Zenith Award, which recognizes those lawyers and judges, called between 1986 and 2000, who demonstrated excellence and thought leadership in their area of practice during 2013–2014.

He has also been recognized as a leading lawyer by the following publications:

• The Best Lawyers in Canada 2024 (Corporate Law, Mergers and Acquisitions Law, Mining Law, Securities Law, Technology Law, Leveraged Buyouts and Private Equity Law) 

• Lexpert Special Edition: Mining 2023

• The Lexpert/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada 2023 (Corporate Commercial Law, Corporate Finance & Securities)

• The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory 2023 (Corporate Commercial, Corporate Finance & Securities, Corporate Mid-Market, Mergers & Acquisitions, Mining)

• The 2016 Lexpert Guide to the Leading US/Canada Cross-Border Corporate Lawyers in Canada (Corporate Finance & Securities)

Steven has been a bencher of the Law Society of British Columbia since 2016 and is the current chair of the Lawyer Development Task Force of the LSBC. He has taught as an adjunct professor at both UBC's Allard Hall and UVic Law. Steven is the chair of the board of trustees of the Burnaby Hospital Foundation.

Admitted to the New York State Bar – 2002
Admitted to the British Columbia Bar – 1998
JD, University of Victoria – 1997
BA (Cognitive Science), Simon Fraser University – 1994