Donya Vahidi*

Donya’s practice focuses on acquisition transactions as well as advising on a wide range of corporate and commercial matters with business owners, entrepreneurs, technology companies, and indigenous communities. Donya’s corporate commercial practice includes advising on business acquisitions, complex commercial arrangements and financing arrangements. Donya also has experience assisting indigenous communities with structuring tax efficient corporate structures for the purpose of entering into commercial transactions with private and public companies.

Donya worked in commercial banking at one of Canada’s leading financial institutions for five years before joining Boughton Law. She is also called to the bar in both B.C. and Alberta and maintains active membership in the law societies of both Provinces.

Representative Transactions

• Jointly represented 23 Alberta-based indigenous communities in their acquisition, for $1.1 billion, of an 11.57% equity interest in seven Enbridge-operated pipelines in the Athabasca region. This acquisition is the single largest indigenous energy transaction in North America. The pipeline assets are underpinned by long-term contracts and highly-predictable cash flows. The financing was completed with non-recourse debt and included a loan guarantee of $250 million from the Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation. Athabasca Indigenous Investments Limited Partnership (Aii) is the special purpose partnership which, through a subsidiary, holds the 11.57% equity interest in the seven pipelines. The indigenous communities with partnership equity are eight First Nations of Treaty 6, five First Nations of Treaty 8, four Métis Settlements, three Métis Nations and three Métis Locals of the Métis Nation of Alberta Association.
• Jointly represented eight First Nations and Métis communities in their acquisition and financing of 15% equity in the Northern Courier Pipeline Limited Partnership (which is a pipeline asset with a value of approximately $1.3 billion). This acquisition was unprecedented because of the number of participating Indigenous communities and was completed with non-recourse debt financing from ATB Financial and a loan guarantee of up to $40 million from the Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation.
• Represented Fort McKay First Nation and Mikisew Cree First Nation in their $503 million acquisition from Suncor Energy of a 49% interest in the East Tank Farm development (a bitumen and diluent storage, blending and cooling facility located 30 km north of Fort McMurray, Alberta) and with the associated $545 million financing by way of 4.136% senior secured notes rated Baa1 by Moody’s and BBB (high) by DBRS. At closing, the transaction represented the largest-ever business investment by a First Nation entity in Canada

Speaking Engagements

• “Business and Commercial Law – Information for Entrepreneurs and Business Owners”, Dress for Success Vancouver, September 2018
• “Intellectual Property and Brand Strategy”, Thompson Rivers University Faculty of Law, March 2018
• “Corporate Law – The Purchase and Sale of a Business”; Thompson Rivers University Faculty of Law, February 2017
• “Corporate Law and Intellectual Property Protection”; Thompson Rivers University Faculty of Law, November 2016
• “Legal Basics for Tech Startups”; Protohack Vancouver, August 2016

Professional Activities

• Member, Canadian Bar Association, Business Law, Banking and Intellectual Property subsections
• Member, Vancouver Bar Association