Background

Kent Howie is a business law partner in our Calgary Office. Kent graduated from Mount Allison University in 1986 with a Bachelor of Commerce Degree and a Certificate in Engineering Science. He attained the designation Chartered Accountant in 1990. He is a graduate of the University of Victoria Law School and was admitted to The Law Society of Upper Canada in 1995 and the Law Society of Alberta in 2005.

Areas of Practice

• Corporate/Commercial
• Electricity
• Mergers and Acquisitions
• Taxation

Professional Experience

• Kent is the Calgary Regional Manager of the Corporate Commercial Practice Group.
• Kent acts for a broad range of companies in the energy, electricity and technology sectors. He has broad experience advising clients on an array of corporate and commercial matters, including in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, private equity or debt financings, taxation, and commercial contracts. Matters on which Kent has been a lead advisor include:
  • the purchase by Delft Instruments B.V. of the international radiation treatment software business of MDS Nordion and its subsidiaries completed by way of a part share and part asset acquisition in multiple international jurisdictions;
  • the creation of a corporate joint venture between a U.S. Fortune 500 energy company and a diversified energy services company operating in the commercial and industrial gas and electricity marketing sectors, and the ultimate sale of the business to a publicly traded income trust;
  • the sale of QNX Software Systems Ltd. to Harman International for proceeds in excess of $150 million Cdn;
  • the negotiation of a multi-party joint venture leading to the construction of a hydro-electric generation project in Northern Canada with a projected cost in excess of $2 billion Cdn;
  • the completion of numerous private equity and convertible debt financings by U.S. and Canadian venture capital firms, acting for either the issuers or venture capital investors;
  • the reorganization and/or sale of a number of municipal electric utilities in Ontario pursuant to the provisions of Ontario’s Energy Competition Act;
  • the construction of a large long-term care facility by way of a 3-way public private partnership among a large Ontario municipality, a developer, and a facility operator; and
  • the completion of a public governance review of Ontario’s third largest municipal electric utility including chairing a public consultation process and preparing the final report to the Council of the municipal shareholder.

Professional and Community Activities

• Member of the Ontario and Canadian Institutes of Chartered Accountants.
• Member of the Canadian Tax Foundation.