A trusted tax advisor to domestic, non-resident and multinational businesses, Joseph Takhmizdjian is a rare breed — a lawyer and a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) — whose diverse practice covers everything from corporate tax and cross-border transactions to real estate deals and tax litigation. His goal: to use his deep understanding of tax law and his love of numbers to find innovative ways to minimize tax, maximize shareholder return and mitigate risk.
Joe can help with:
- All tax aspects of mergers and acquisitions on either the buy or sell side, including preclosing organization, tax due diligence, post-acquisition tax planning, post-purchase integration and deal structuring
- Tax planning for corporate financing
- Tax strategy for commercial real estate transactions
- Tax advice and structuring for non-resident corporations that are establishing, acquiring or operating businesses in Canada
- Tax litigation, including audits, appeals, Tax Court and the Federal Court of Appeal
- Voluntary disclosures (tax amnesty or tax pardons)
- Canadian corporate and individual income tax
- Trusts and estate planning
Joe’s tailor-made tax optimization strategies routinely save BLG’s clients significant amounts of money. His made-at-BLG method of structuring commercial real estate transactions, for example, has saved clients upwards of $30 million in land transfer duties alone in recent years. He enjoys hunting down instances of double taxation, crunching the numbers to identify the most advantageous tax scenario, and finding practical solutions where there’s no perfect answer.
Not only is Joe fluent in English, French and Armenian, he’s an expert in reading and analysing financial statements. His ability to speak the language of accountants allows him to easily collaborate on creative approaches and earn the respect and cooperation of the other side’s advisors. A visual thinker and clear communicator, Joe explains complicated rules and complex scenarios using simple, real-life examples — often presented using step-by-step explanations and simple graphics in PowerPoint — so clients can make decisions quickly and confidently.
A born networker and creative problem solver, Joe’s counsel is regularly sought by colleagues in corporate practice and accounting who are looking for unique ways to structure deals or avoid tax-related pitfalls. He enjoys coaching junior firm members and has taught several in-house tax and accounting courses for lawyers and paralegals in addition to being a speaker at the APFF (Association de Planification Fiscal et Financière) and Canadian Tax Foundation (CTF).
Joseph provides legal services through a Law Corporation.
Experience
- Acted for Amsino International Inc. in its acquisition of the assets of leading Canadian medical device manufacturer, MedXL. The transaction was a distressed M&A deal, with Amsino being the successful bidder.
- Acted for Davie in connection with its acquisition of the assets of Finland’s Helsinki Shipyard Oy, a landmark transaction in the Arctic shipbuilding space, including tax structuring $110 million in equity and debt financing from the Québec government.
- Was the sole tax advisor for Groupe Mach in its acquisition of a significant portion of Groupe Huot’s real estate empire, working with a boutique accounting firm to conduct tax due diligence and structure the $415 million transaction in the most tax advantageous way. This complex file required expert analysis of tax implications, including debt forgiveness rules, loss quantification, basis bump benefits and land transfer tax, to determine whether to acquire real estate assets through a vesting order or shares through a reverse vesting order.
- Acted for a Canadian leader in warranties for technology products on a deal involving multiple vendors with specific tax objectives, ensuring each vendor received a tailor-made exit strategy to optimize their respective tax liability. Different strategies in the deal structure, including an earn-out, deferred payments, use of the capital gains deductions and an equity rollover, were seamlessly integrated for the buyer group.
- Acted as lead tax advisor for a private equity firm in their $66.5 million acquisition of Québec City's Mega Centre Lebourgneuf from Choice Properties and OP Trust. The acquisition structure put in place by other tax advisors, which would have resulted in investors receiving their returns as tax inefficient interest income, was modified to ensure that investors received either a tax-efficient capital gains tax treatment or tax-free intercorporate dividend treatment.
- Advised Revision Military Inc. and its affiliates on the spin-off and sale of its global eyewear business to a U.S. company, including a tailor-made tax strategy that saved the company $15 million.
- Acted for Amsino International Inc. in its acquisition of the assets of leading Canadian medical device manufacturer, MedXL. The transaction was a distressed M&A deal, with Amsino being the successful bidder.
- Acted for Davie in connection with its acquisition of the assets of Finland’s Helsinki Shipyard Oy, a landmark transaction in the Arctic shipbuilding space, including tax structuring $110 million in equity and debt financing from the Québec government.
- Was the sole tax advisor for Groupe Mach in its acquisition of a significant portion of Groupe Huot’s real estate empire, working with a boutique accounting firm to conduct tax due diligence and structure the $415 million transaction in the most tax advantageous way. This complex file required expert analysis of tax implications, including debt forgiveness rules, loss quantification, basis bump benefits and land transfer tax, to determine whether to acquire real estate assets through a vesting order or shares through a reverse vesting order.
- Acted for a Canadian leader in warranties for technology products on a deal involving multiple vendors with specific tax objectives, ensuring each vendor received a tailor-made exit strategy to optimize their respective tax liability. Different strategies in the deal structure, including an earn-out, deferred payments, use of the capital gains deductions and an equity rollover, were seamlessly integrated for the buyer group.
- Acted as lead tax advisor for a private equity firm in their $66.5 million acquisition of Québec City's Mega Centre Lebourgneuf from Choice Properties and OP Trust. The acquisition structure put in place by other tax advisors, which would have resulted in investors receiving their returns as tax inefficient interest income, was modified to ensure that investors received either a tax-efficient capital gains tax treatment or tax-free intercorporate dividend treatment.
- Advised Revision Military Inc. and its affiliates on the spin-off and sale of its global eyewear business to a U.S. company, including a tailor-made tax strategy that saved the company $15 million.
