Grant Gardiner

Pragmatic, results achieving executive with more than 25 years experience & strong business acumen. Extensive experience guiding public company/government Executive Teams & Boards of Directors through complex business, legal & corporate governance challenges.

• Leading High Value M&A and Strategic Transactions : Outsourcing of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited operations ($1B/yr) to International Nuclear Consortium & International IP License Agreement; Nordion M&A ($1B+ - sale of product & public company); Blackberry M&A ( $100s Ms, including first public company purchase & hostile takeover effort); Iogen Strategic Transaction with Royal Dutch Shell (Intellectual Property License and Shell equity investment from 26% to 50%); Cognos M&A and Strategic Transactions: ($5.3B Sale of Cognos to IBM, purchases of companies in U.S, U.K and China, outsourcing of software product to Infosys India); JDSU Uniphase Commercial Deals ($100s Ms - Master Sales Agreements with Nortel, Lucent, Cisco, Corning; Sales Work Out/Settlement Agreements; & Purchase of an IBM Division); Bombardier Aerospace Deals ($US1.4B CRJ 700 Sale to American Airlines & $100M Sale of DH300s to US Airways)
• Advising Public Company and Crown Corporation Boards of Directors: Over 200 Board meetings (AECL, Nordion, Blackberry & Cognos), including special committees established for strategic reviews, M&A transactions (sale of entire company, strategic purchases), material litigation oversight, and internal investigations. Successfully led/advised Blackberry through an OSC mandated independent governance review and a CEO succession. Successfully led/advised 3 Nordion special committees established to oversee litigation, an internal corruption investigation and a strategic review/sale of company. Advised Cognos Compensation Committee through IBM's acquisition of Cognos.
• Securities Law & Public Reporting: Responsible for legal role in security law and public reporting compliance in Canada and US at Nordion, Blackberry & Cognos (all cross listed) for over a decade, including Annual, Quarterly & Current reporting, Proxy Circulars for Annual Meeting & Special Shareholder meetings for transactions, Annual Meetings, Earnings+ press releases; Chair/participant of Disclosure Committee; Earnings Call Scripts and Q&A; and stock exchange rule compliance, including for Normal Course Issuer Bids.
• Dealing with Regulators & Law Enforcement: Led Nordion through its internal corruption investigation and interactions with the US Dept of Justice, the SEC and the RCMP; Led Blackberry through an OSC mandated independent governance review & positive public reporting of same as well as OSC insider trading allegations against a VP; Led Cognos through a significant SEC revenue recognition comment letter process that lead to a delayed 10-K filing and a Nasdaq de-listing process as well as receiving Cognos Leadership Award; Experience dealing with the TSX and other exchanges, including with respect to share buy backs.
• Litigation and Dispute Resolution: Significant experience managing and resolving litigation, including settling significant insurance litigation and commercial litigation at AECL and settling significant litigation between Nordion and AECL.