Desmon Balakrishnan

Mr. Balakrishnan is one of the top lawyers in Canada practicing in Corporate Finance, Securities, Mergers & Acquisitions, Lending, Private Equity, and Gaming and Entertainment for McMillan LLP, where he has been a partner since 2004. Desmond is a co-chair of McMillan’s cannabis practice. He has been lead counsel on over $500,000,000 in financing transactions, and mergers and acquisitions aggregating over $4.3 billion. Mr. Balakrishnan’s experience includes lead counsel for Aurora (TSX:ACB) in a multitude of acquisitions, including the most notable, MedReleaf, for $3.2 billion, and CanniMed Therapeutics for $1.1 billion. He also serves as a director, officer, or general counsel of several resource, finance and gaming firms, including Northern Dynasty Minerals (TSX:NDM, NYSE:NAK) and Great Canadian Gaming (TSX:GC). Mr. Balakrishnan was counsel for TSX and NASDAQ listed Organigram (TSX:OGI). He holds a CLA and BA from Simon Fraser University and a Bachelor of Laws (with Distinction) from the University of Alberta.