As a senior partner in the Securities Group and Real Estate Group at WeirFoulds, Steven Rukavina has the experience, connections and solutions that his natural resources, commercial and industrial real estate, and technology sector clients have come to rely on.

Integrating  his wealth and diversity of  experience in corporate finance, securities, M&A, and real estate has made Steve a key advisor to his clients. His expertise various from the structuring of a client’s formative or pivotal transaction to providing longer-term strategic advice to assist established organizations reach even greater heights of achievement.

Steve’s corporate practice is focused on proving clients with the innovative solutions that they need to grow and succeed.  His clients include some of Canada’s largest corporations, as well as smaller, growth-oriented entrepreneurs, and mid-market firms across a broad spectrum of industries, both domestic and cross-border. Steve’s securities and mining clients benefit from his experience with complex and strategic mergers and acquisitions,  public and private financings, including IPOs, prospectus, OM and exempt offerings, private placements, and venture capital/seed financings.

Steve opens the door to opportunity by assisting in  all aspects of establishing a business, whether in the form of a corporation, trust, joint venture or general or limited partnership. He regularly prepares shareholder, joint venture, limited partnership, co-ownership and similar agreements, and has acted for a range of public and private entities in completing asset, share and hybrid purchase and sale transactions, institutional debt and equity financings, flow-through share financings, corporate reorganizations, reverse take-overs and public stock exchange listings, including those involving cross-border participants and stakeholders.

In addition, when commercial relationships unfortunately break-down, Steve has acted for clients on all sides in the often challenging process of restructuring ownership, equity and debt holdings, including paving and navigating the difficult path of structuring, negotiating and implementing exit provisions and strategies, extricating ownership and joint venture interests and unwinding commercial transactions and relationships, including via exercise of shot-gun, ROFO/ROFR provisions and other similar negotiated and structured settlements.

Steve also has a vibrant commercial real estate and development practice having acted as lead counsel to a number  of the most prolific real estate market participants and involving certain of the most iconic developments  in Ontario. Having a deep understanding of the market, he regularly acts  for purchasers, vendors, borrowers and lenders in a variety of complex commercial and industrial real estate purchase, sale, financing, co-ownership, joint venture, design-build, build-to-suit and lease-back transactions, including specialized transactions involving unique developments such as shopping centres, hotels, resorts, golf courses and retirement and senior living and long-term care facilities. He has structured and led the financing of REITs and has advised owners and fund managers on complex commercial real estate developments, acquisitions, syndications, financings and dispositions. In addition, he has advised clients in buying, selling and restructuring real estate and related undertakings under distress via debt enforcement proceedings such as via power of sale, foreclosure, court and creditor-appointed trustees and receivers, including a variety of insolvency and receivership proceedings, and under private and court-supervised auctions and bid processes.