Alex is an Associate in our Securities and Capital Markets and our Business Law Groups. His practice primarily focuses on corporate transactions, including starting a business, private placements, mergers and acquisitions, and public offerings.

Alex regularly acts for technology, cannabis, and life science businesses in Canada and the United States looking to access Canadian capital market opportunities, including listing on the TSX Venture Exchange and Canadian Securities Exchange. Alex also regularly advises leading Canadian businesses on domestic and cross-border public and private financings.

Alex also advises public companies on general corporate and securities law matters. He commonly assists clients with drafting and negotiating commercial agreements and business structures.

Alex’s current passion is the development of blockchain technology and business applications.

Recent Transactions

• 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.
• Enthusiast Gaming merger with Aquilini GameCo and J55 Capital Corp.: Acted for Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc. (TSXV: EGLX) as it completed its arrangement with J55 Capital Corp. (TSXV: FIVE) and Aquilini GameCo Inc. (“GameCo”) to form the leading publicly-traded esports and gaming media organization in North America on September 3, 2019, with team lead by Yosef Adler (Partner) – Business Law, and with Andrew Elbaz (Partner) - Securities and Capital Markets, Jessica Thrower (Associate) – Business Law/Securities and Capital Markets, and Alexander Katznelson (Associate) – Securities and Capital Markets.
• Eguana Technologies Inc. - $3.012 million Private Placement: Acted for Eguana Technologies Inc. (TSXV:EGT), a company that specializes in designing and manufacturing high performance residential and commercial energy storage systems, in completing the first tranche of its oversubscribed brokered private placement offering (the “Offering”) of convertible debenture units for gross proceeds of $3.012 million. The Offering was led by Bayfront Capital Partners Ltd. and included Mackie Research Capital Corporation. The legal team was led by Andrew Elbaz (Partner, Securities and Capital Markets), Alex Katznelson (Associate, Securities and Capital Markets), and Jessica Thrower (Associate, Business Law).
• Nutritional High International Inc. - $5.1 million Private Placement: Nutritional High Inc.,  (CSE: EAT, OTCQB: SPLIF) (the "Company"), closed a brokered private placement of $5.1 million of units. The private placement was led by Haywood Securities Inc. Minden Gross LLP acted for Haywood Securities Inc., with a team led by Andrew Elbaz (Partner, Securities & Capital Markets) with Alex Katznelson (Associate, Securities & Capital Markets).
• Aura Health Closes Flagship German Acquisition of 80% of Pharmadrug GmbH: Aura Health Inc. (CSE:BUZZ) closed its previously announced (May 8, 2019) acquisition of an 80% equity interest in Pharmadrug Production GmbH for total consideration of €5.0 million. Pharmadrug is a cash flow positive German pharmaceutical distribution company with over 20 years of operating history and a Schedule I European Union narcotics license allowing for the distribution of medical cannabis to pharmacies in Germany and throughout the Eurozone as markets become legalized. Pharmadrug has supply agreements in place with Bedrocan International B.V., Canadian Licensed Producers, and is currently supplying medical cannabis to pharmacies in Germany. Minden Gross LLP acted for Aura in the purchase of Pharmadrug with a team led by  Andrew Elbaz (Partner, Securities & Capital Markets), David Judson (Partner, Securities & Capital Markets), and Alex Katznelson (Associate, Securities & Capital Markets).
• Aura Health Inc. - Second Tranche of Subscription Receipt Offering and Share Exchange Transaction: Acted for Aura Health Inc. (“Aura”) in closing the second tranche of its “best efforts” private placement subscription receipt offering (the “Offering”) for additional gross proceeds of $2,820,070 (the “Second Tranche Offering”), as well as a share exchange transaction with FSD Pharma Inc. (“FSD”), a licensed cannabis producer, where, among other things, FSD issued $3 million of FSD shares (the “FSD Shares”) to Aura in exchange for $3 million of Aura shares. Since the FSD Shares were issued to Aura on a private placement basis, Aura is in the process of finalizing an up to $3 million bridge facility (the “Bridge Facility”) to cover the value of the FSD Shares until they are freely tradeable. The gross proceeds of $1,919,929 raised pursuant to the closing of the first tranche of the Offering, the gross proceeds of $2,820,070 raised pursuant to the Second Tranche Offering, the $3 million of FSD Shares issued to Aura in connection with the Share Exchange, and the Bridge Facility will generate $7,740,000 for Aura and will provide it with the funds required to close the proposed acquisition of an 80% equity interest in Pharmadrug Production GmbH, previously announced in a press release dated January 25, 2019.
• Freckle I.O.T. - Freckle I.O.T Ltd closes Second Tranche of Private Placement: Acted for Freckle I.O.T Ltd., a global leader in multi-touch offline advertising attribution used by Fortune 500 brands like McDonald’s, Lexus, and Walmart in the closing of a second tranche private placement offering of subscription receipts for gross proceeds of approximately $2 million (the “Offering”). The Offering was led by GMP Securities L.P.  and PI Financial Corp.  (the “Co-Lead Agents”) and included Canaccord Genuity Corp. and Haywood Securities Inc. The Offering is being completed in connection with the proposed reverse take-over between Freckle and Knol previously announced on January 16, 2019 and March 27, 2019.
• Freckle I.O.T Ltd. - Freckle I.O.T closes first tranche of $6.5M Offering: Acted for Freckle I.O.T Ltd., a global leader in multi-touch offline advertising attribution used by Fortune 500 brands like McDonald’s, Lexus, and Walmart in the closing of a first tranche private placement offering of subscription receipts and units for gross proceeds of $4,554,000 (the “Offering”). The Offering was led by GMP Securities L.P. and PI Financial Corp. (the “Co-Lead Agents”) and included Canaccord Genuity Corp. and Haywood Securities Inc. The Offering is being completed in connection with the proposed reverse take-over between Freckle and Knol announced on January 16, 2019 and March 27, 2019.
• GTEC Holdings Ltd. - GTEC Holdings Ltd. closes $12.5 million Offering led by Sprott Capital Partners LP : Acted for GTEC Holdings Ltd., (TSXV: GTEC), a leading publicly listed cannabis company holding cultivation, extraction, and analytical testing licenses throughout Canada, that closed the second tranche of an up to $12.5 million private placement offering led by Sprott Capital Partners LP. As part of the second tranche, GTEC issued 11,582,869 units (each a “Unit” and together, the Units”) at a price of $0.55 per Unit for gross proceeds of $6,370,577.95.  The Company closed the first tranche of the private placement on February 28, 2019 by issuing 11,126,753 Units of the Company for gross proceeds of $6,119,714.15. In total, the Company has issued 22,709,622 Units for gross proceeds of $12,490,292 through the first and second tranches.
• GTEC Holdings Ltd. - $6.1 million First Tranche Closing led by Sprott Capital Partners LP: Acted for GTEC Holdings Ltd., (TSXV: GTEC), a leading publicly listed cannabis company holding cultivation, extraction, and analytical testing licenses throughout Canada, that closed the first tranche of an up to $8 million private placement offering led by Sprott Capital Partners LP. As part of the first tranche, GTEC issued 11,126,753 units (each a “Unit” and together, the Units”) at a price of $0.55 per Unit for gross proceeds of $6,119,714.
• Aura Health - Closing of First Tranche of up to $7 million Brokered Private Placement: Acted for Aura Health Inc. (CSE: BUZZ), a publicly listed company building an international network of cannabis assets, that closed a first tranche of an up to $7 million brokered private placement offering led by Mackie Research Capital Corporation with a syndicate consisting of Haywood Securities Inc., PI Financial Corp., and Foundation Markets Inc. As part of the first tranche of the private placement, Aura issued 8,726,954 subscription receipts at a price of $0.22 per subscription receipt. The offering is being completed in connection with the proposed acquisition of an 80% equity interest in Pharmadrug Production GmbH, a German-based cannabis company.
• Eguana Technologies Inc. - Doughty Hanson Invests $3 million in Eguana Technologies Inc.: Acted for Eguana Technologies Inc.(TSXV: EGT), a publicly listed world leader in design and manufacturing of high performance residential and commercial energy storage systems, that issued 300,000 newly created Series A First Preferred Shares (the “Series A Shares”) at $10.00 per share for aggregate gross proceeds of $3 million. The Series A Shares were purchased by Eguana’s largest shareholder, DHCT II Luxembourg SARL, an investment vehicle of funds managed by Doughty Hanson & Co Managers Limited.
• Aura Health - Private Placement Offering: Acted for Aura Health Inc.(CSE: BUZZ), a publicly listed company building an international network of cannabis assets, as it issued 11,493,999 units (each a “Unit” and together, the “Units”) at a price of $0.15 per unit for gross proceeds of approximately $1.7 million. Each Unit consisted of one common share in Aura and one-half of one common share purchase warrant, exercisable at $0.25 for a period of 24 months from the date of issuance. The net proceeds of the private placement will be used to further the Company’s involvement in two strategic assets in Israel.
• Isodiol International Inc. announces closing of $6 million Private Placement: Acted for the Financial Advisors as Isodiol International Inc.(the “Company”) (CSE: ISOL), a public listed nutritionally focused company, closed a private placement of $6 million convertible debentures (the “Offering”). In connection with the Offering, Haywood Securities Inc. and Clarus Securities Inc. acted as financial advisors to the Company (the “Financial Advisors”).
• Enthusiast Gaming - Closes Oversubscribed Private Placement of Convertible Debentures: Acted for Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc.(TSXV: EGLX), a publicly listed digital media company building the largest community of authentic games, in its completion of its oversubscribed, non-brokered private placement of convertible debenture units for total gross proceeds of $9 million. Canaccord Genuity Corp. acted as advisors to the Company with respect to the Offering.

Industry Expertise

• Blockchain Law