Darren is an Associate in our Business Law and Securities and Public Markets Groups. He works with clients primarily in corporate transactions, such as starting a business, mergers and acquisitions, and public offerings. Darren also assists clients with managing general business issues and drafting and negotiating commercial agreements and business structures.

Darren has a deep understanding of start-ups and small businesses, having worked as a freelance business consultant early in his career. He advised clients on marketing and business strategy, provided market research, and devised operational efficiencies. This experience has given Darren insight into what really makes his clients’ businesses work, what legal issues they encounter every day, and solutions to mediate risk.

When not developing creative legal strategies, Darren can be found playing soccer in the summer or hitting the slopes in the winter.

Recent Transactions

• Eguana Technologies closes $20 million Private Placement of Special Warrants: Acted for Eguana Technologies Inc. (TSXV: EGT), Alberta-based designer and manufacturer of high performance residential and commercial energy storage systems, as it completed its previously-announced private placement of special warrants of the Company (the “Special Warrants”) for aggregate gross proceeds of $20 million (the “Offering”). Pursuant to the Offering, the Company issued 50 million Special Warrants at a price of $0.40 per Special Warrant. Stifel GMP and Cormark Securities Inc., acted as co-lead and joint bookrunners, together with Mackie Research Capital Corporation (the “Agents”). In addition, and in connection with the Offering, Fort Capital Partners acted as a capital markets advisor to the Company. Minden Gross LLP acted for Eguana with a team led by Andrew Elbaz (Partner), Alexander Katznelson (Associate), and Darren Nguyen (Associate) – Securities and Capital Markets.
• General Assembly Pizza Closes Oversubscribed $13 million Series A Financing Round led by Gravitas Securities Inc.: Acted for Gravitas Securities as General Assembly Holdings Limited (“GA Pizza”), a local Toronto restaurant turned successful consumer packaged goods brand in the direct-to-consumer home-meal solutions space, closed an oversubscribed $13 million Series A financing round, far exceeding its $3.5 million target. Gravitas Securities Inc. led the financing, securing a strong and diverse shareholder base for the omnichannel brand that launched its pizza subscription business at the tail end of 2020. Minden Gross LLP acted for Gravitas Securities Inc. in connection with the offering with a team led by Andrew Elbaz (Partner), Alexander Katznelson (Associate), and Darren Nguyen (Associate) – Securities and Capital Markets.
• FansUnite Closes Upsized and Oversubscribed $13.4 million Private Placement of Special Warrants led by Gravitas Securities Inc. – Acted on behalf of the Agents as FansUnite Entertainment Inc. (CSE: FANS) (“FansUnite”), a technology company providing leading online gaming solutions, closed an oversubscribed $13.4 million private placement of special warrants (“Special Warrants”). FansUnite intends to file a (final) short form prospectus to qualify the distribution of the units underlying the Special Warrants. Gravitas Securities Inc. acted as lead agent and sole bookrunner in connection with the offering with a syndicate that included Haywood Securities Inc. and Mackie Research Capital Corporation (collectively, the “Agents”). Minden Gross LLP acted for the Agents with a team led by Andrew Elbaz (Partner), Alexander Katznelson (Associate), and Darren Nguyen (Associate) – Securities and Capital Markets.
• APOLLO Closes Oversubscribed $13.5 million Series A Financing Round led by Gravitas Securities: Apollo Insurance Solutions Ltd. (“APOLLO”) (TSXV: APLO Reserved), Canada’s leading online insurance company, closed an oversubscribed $13.5 million Series A financing round, far exceeding its original $4 million target. Gravitas Securities Inc. led the financing, which resulted in a strong and diverse shareholder base that included Trisura Group Ltd. (TSX: TSU), an international specialty insurance provider operating in the surety, risk solutions, corporate insurance, and reinsurance segments of the market, and Liberty Mutual Insurance, a Fortune 100 company that is the sixth-largest global property and casualty insurer based on 2019 gross written premium. The Minden Gross LLP team was led by Andrew Elbaz (Partner), Alexander Katznelson(Associate), and Darren Nguyen (Associate) from Minden Gross LLP's Securities and Capital Markets Group.
• Tribe Properties Technologies Inc. closes $11.6 million Private Placement Financing: Acted for Acted for Stifel Nicolaus Canada Inc. (Stifel GMP), as lead agent and sole bookrunner on a brokered private placement financing of subscription receipts of Tribe Properties Technologies Inc. (formerly, Bazinga Technologies Inc.) for gross proceeds of $11,629,920 (the “Financing”). The Minden Gross LLP team was led by Andrew Elbaz (Partner), Alexander Katznelson(Associate), and Darren Nguyen (Associate) from Minden Gross LLP's Securities and Capital Markets Group.
• Assure Holdings Corp. closes US$10.5 million Private Placement from Institutional Investors: Acted for Assure Holdings Corp. (TSXV: IOM; OTCQB: ARHH), a provider of intraoperative neuromonitoring services, in closing a US$10.5 million brokered private placement from US institutional investors (the "Offering"). As part of the Offering, Assure issued 16,357,703 units (each, a “Unit” and collectively, the “Units”) at a price of US$0.64 per Unit. Each Unit consisted of one common share in the capital of Assure (each, a “Common Share”) and one common share purchase warrant (each, a “Warrant”). Each Warrant will entitle the holder thereof to purchase one Common Share at an exercise price of US$0.78 for a period of five years from the date of issuance. The Offering was led by The Benchmark Company, LLC, a leading healthcare-focused US investment bank. The Minden Gross LLP team was led by Andrew Elbaz (Partner), Alexander Katznelson (Associate), and Darren Nguyen (Associate) from Minden Gross LLP's Securities and Capital Markets Group.
• Eguana Technologies Inc. closes Brokered Private Placements for $2.65 million: Acted for Eguana Technologies Inc. (“Eguana”) (TSXV: EGT), a publicly-listed world leader in the design and manufacturing of high performance residential and commercial energy storage systems, in closing two brokered private placements in November for gross proceeds of $2.65 million. Under the first private placement, which was led by Fort Capital Securities Ltd. (“Fort”), Eguana, through its subsidiary, EGT Markets Limited Partnership, issued 1,150 limited partnership units for gross proceeds of $1.15 million. Under the second private placement, which was co-led by Stifel GMP and Fort, Eguana issued 10,000,000 common shares to an institutional investor for gross proceeds of $1.5 million. Acted for Eguana, with a team led by Andrew Elbaz (Partner) – Securities and Capital Markets, Alexander Katznelson (Associate) – Securities and Capital Markets, and Darren Nguyen (Associate) – Securities and Capital Markets
• Brüush Oral Care Inc. closes $6.5 million oversubscribed Series A round financing: Acted for Gravitas Securities Inc., the sole lead agent and exclusive financial advisor, on the $6.5 million oversubscribed Series A round financing of Brüush Oral Care Inc., an e-commerce business poised to disrupt the oral care industry.
• Mednow.ca - $6.5 million Oversubscribed Seed Round Financing: Mednow.ca closed its oversubscribed seed round financing for gross proceeds of $6.5 million. Acted for Gravitas Securities Inc., who led the financing.
• Assure Holdings Corp. - Four tranche private placement offering of convertible debentures: Acted for Assure Holdings Corp. (TSXV: IO M; OTCQB: ARHH) a provider of intraoperative neuromonitoring services in completing four tranches of a private placement offering (the “Offering”) of convertible debenture units for gross proceeds of US$2.62 million.