Roderick Wayne Kirkham

Roderick Wayne Kirkham (Rod) serves as counsel at Prelia, based in our Vancouver office, which he was instrumental in establishing more than 10 years ago.

Rod began his legal career in Calgary in 1985, moving to Vancouver in 1991. He has worked on a wide variety of mandates, acting as counsel for private equity firms and business owners in financing and acquisition transactions. In addition, he has represented small, mid-cap, and large capital companies in domestic and cross-border public financings, court approved plans of arrangement, stock exchange listings and up-listings, and compliance with reporting obligations, including proxy solicitation rules under applicable corporate and securities legislation.

Rod has acted for companies in takeover bids, both friendly and hostile, and for special or independent committees in such transactions.

His practice covers various industry sectors including, oil and gas, mineral exploration and production, entertainment, food and product manufacturing, cannabis and sustainable and renewable energy.

Rod has acted for Canadian clients seeking to conduct transactions internationally, notably the United States, China and Turkey. He has also acted for international clients seeking to conduct business in Canada including accessing our capital markets and obtaining listings on Canadian stock exchanges.

Rod has built his strong reputation by finding creative solutions that enable clients to achieve their business objectives and navigate challenges that present themselves.

Notably, Roderick Wayne Kirkham has:

1.      acted for a Calgary-based businessman in removing a troublesome minority shareholder from a British Columbia manufacturing company he had recently acquired, utilizing the statutory compulsory acquisition provisions under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia);

2.      acted for a B.C. cooperative which owned all of the super voting but non-participating shares in a B.C. beverage company, first in successfully defending a hostile takeover and subsequently, after thwarting the bid, working with management on behalf of the cooperative to ensure it received reasonable financial compensation for the economic premium tied to its shares when the company obtained a listing on the TSX;

3.      acted for a group of concerned shareholders of a publicly traded cannabis company in defeating senior management’s efforts to take control of that company through the mechanisms afforded under the Company Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA).

He has also contributed articles and presentations, and served as speaker for various organizations, including the Asia Pacific Foundation, and the Canada China Business Council. His recent publications and insights can be found on his LinkedIn profile.

Beyond his legal practice, Rod has served as a director of a number of non-profit organizations including: The St. George’s School Foundation and the Terry Fox Humanitarian Award Program, where he chaired the Corporate Governance Committee, overseeing the transition of a Board of Directors composed of federal government and business community appointees to a board made up of past award recipients and members of the Fox family.