Esther E.J. Sohn
(손은정 캐나다 변호사)

OVERVIEW

Esther E.J. Sohn practices business law with a focus on financial services. She advises on syndicated financing, secured lending, cross-border asset and project finance, restructuring and refinancing as well as corporate and commercial transactions. Esther’s broad client-base includes Canadian and international financial institutions, corporate borrowers, investors, various entities and institutions, security providers and start-ups.

Advising multinational corporations, export credit agencies, project companies and private equity sponsors, Esther has substantial experience preparing and negotiating credit facility agreements, loan and security agreements, equity financing documents and various corporate commercial documents.

Esther brings valuable international expertise and insight gained through experience in jurisdictions that include Canada, the U.K., Southeast Asia and South Korea. After completing her articles in Toronto, Esther worked at premier U.K. law firms in Singapore and a leading law firm in South Korea where she managed numerous cross-border debt and equity transactions.

Born and raised in Daejeon, South Korea, Esther lives on the North Shore with her family. Outside of her practice, she enjoys swimming, playing piano, watching movies, volunteering and coaching at local community activities.

REPRESENTATIVE CLIENT WORK

Business, Corporate Commercial and Client Liaison

• Represented a listed pharmaceutical company with its operation in Canada and multi-jurisdictional IP filings and dispute management
• Represented various Korean companies in connection with the extra-provincial registration or subsidiary incorporation in Canada, providing related corporate and commercial transactional support
• Advised a listed cannabis company in Canada with its acquisition by way of an amalgamation leading the financial due diligence and negating the terms of the intercompany bridge loans and security arrangement
• Advised a listed timber company in Canada in connection with its acquisition of US entities, managing financial due diligence, payouts and various transaction documents
• Acted for an international private equity firm relating to the acquisition of a major tea drink franchise in South Korea

Financial Services

• Advised a resort company with its ongoing financing and refinancing of its campgrounds and inventory financing in Alberta, B.C. and Ontario
• Advised a pharmaceutical distributor with its operating credit facility provided by a lender and a shareholder loan
• Advised major financial institutions with respect to their senior secured, mortgage-backed loans to various developers and investors
• Represented a fashion enterprise regarding the secured loans provided by a major lender with the working capital assistance under the government’s Covid-19 relief funds
• Represented a technology-driven apparel enterprise with its super-priority (debtor-in-possession), rollover of the interim term credit facility under the financing scheme made available pursuant to the Bankruptcy and insolvency Act (Canada)
• Represented various international financial institutions in connection with K-sure or other Export Credit Agency-covered Secured Term Facility provided to major corporations in South Korea and Southeast Asia
• Advised a leading Korean bank in connection with the financing of the container vessels under the French Tax Lease structure provided to a global shipping company headquartered in France
• Advised a Korean government pension fund on the issuance of Class A5 Notes by a U.S.-based sporting company focused on the golf market, whereby a portion of such notes were acquired via a trust based in South Korea
• Represented a global insurance company in connection with its participation in the army Build-Transfer-Lease project in Paju, South Korea
• Represented equity investors in relation to the acquisition of one of the top five coal producers in Indonesia by way of acquiring various intermediary holding companies in B.V.I., Indonesia, Netherlands, Malta, Seychelles and Singapore
• Represented mandated lead arrangers of a syndicate of 15 lenders in connection with the US$661,000,000 guarantee project financing of a 300 mm wafer fabrication plant in Singapore, supported by a capital assistance loan from the Economic Development Board, Singapore
• Represented a hydro-electric power company in the Philippines in relation to refinancing of debt service reserve facility and debt modification

Regulatory and Compliance

• Represented government agencies with various regulatory research projects including chemical safety, employment and immigration related legal development in Canada
• Advised a global accounting firm in Singapore in connection with the proposed sanctions by and review hearings at the Financial Supervisory Commission of South Korea
• Acted for a major Korean financial institution (with various subsidiaries in the U.S.) in relation to the establishment of the Volcker Rule Compliance Program