Canadian Search Fund Legal Structures

by a searcher

5 years ago

This is a question for Canadian searchers, or those planning to search, in terms of how they navigated the legal structure of their search fund.

We do not have US style LLC's here which are the preferred vehicles in the US. However, setting up a corporation that is a GP in a Limited Partnership serves a similar function. Due to my previous experience in RE PE, I know how costly LPs are to setup and I don't see many searchers spending the 6 figures required to execute a proper LP. What is the typical legal structure in Canada for a search fund? Corp + LP, Corp (investors own restricted or common shares, etc)?

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investor from University of Pennsylvania - The Wharton School

Mario Nigro does legal side of most Canadian search funds - he's a good POC to reach out to if have legal questions.

3 years ago | like reply | 1 like

searcher from University of Oxford

Here are some helpful notes on search fund's legal structure in Canada: https://www.mondaq.com/canada/private-equity-mbos/166146/private-equity-search-funds-look-no-further. The Canadian search funds I've seen were all structured as GP + LP. Law firms in Canada have start-up programs that you could fall under as a search fund. These programs are relatively cheap (CAD $1500-$5000) and include structuring your entities + getting started for your first year.

3 years ago | like reply | 5 likes

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