Paul Stoyan

Executive Summary

Paul Stoyan is the Chief Executive Officer and Chair of Gardiner Roberts and practises business law with a special emphasis on mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and corporate governance. His varied experience makes him a valued corporate counsel to large and medium size corporations of all types. He has worked extensively with various companies in the technology and financial sectors and has assisted such companies in various cross border transactions, in going public and in establishing and enforcing corporate governance regimes. 

Paul was designated as King’s Counsel (K.C.) in 2023, bestowed upon lawyers who have demonstrated an unwavering commitment to the pursuit of legal excellence in service to the Crown, the public and their communities.

Paul has completed the Directors Program at the University of Toronto Rotman School of Management in conjunction with the Institute of Corporate Directors, and he holds the certified director designation ICD.D. 

Paul is currently a director of ECN Capital Corporation, serving as Chair of ECN’s Compensation and Governance Committee and Enghouse Systems Limited, serving as Chair of Enghouse’s Governance Committee, both publicly traded companies listed on the TSX. Paul is also the Chairman of the Board of Axis Auto Finance Inc., a TSX company and a member of the Board of Directors of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), an Ontario Crown agency. Paul has served as a director of several other companies, including Open Text Corporation and Element Financial Corporation. 

Paul is the Past Chair of the Business Law Section of the Ontario Bar Association. Currently Paul serves on the Advisory Council for Peacebuilders International and has also served on a number of not for profit boards, including the board of the National Ballet School of Canada, having sat on its Finance Committee which oversaw the development of Project Grand Jeté on Jarvis Street in Toronto. 

For several years, Paul has lectured on a number of programs for the Business Law Section of the Ontario Bar, including in the area of advising corporate boards on issues of director’s liability and on conflicts.

Expertise

• Business and Corporate Commercial
• Financial Services
• Private Equity and Fund Formation

Representative Work

• Numerous domestic and international financing and merger/acquisition transactions
• Various cross‑border transactions
• Various competition matters, including submissions to the Competition Bureau on mergers
• Advising venture capitalists in connection with acquisition and structuring issues and exit strategies
• Advising lenders on secured financing transactions and “work‑out” arrangements
• Establishment of distribution and technology arrangements for corporate clients
• Advising on various health law matters, including nursing home and retirement home acquisitions