Ian Robertson

Ian is the Chief Executive Officer of Kingsdale Advisors and is responsible for the overall leadership and direction of the company’s strategic shareholder and governance advisory solutions. He joined Kingsdale in 2014, and after establishing the company’s communications division as the leading proxy fight PR specialist, Ian assumed the role of President, Canada in 2019, with a focus on providing superior service and outstanding strategic advice to public company boards and management, especially in times of adversity. He regularly advises senior leaders from the worlds of business, finance, government, and other global sectors on how to respond to unique and unforeseen challenges, while strategically positioning them to emerge stronger.

Ian’s select transaction and special situation experience at Kingsdale includes acting for: Tim Hortons in its $12.5 billion plan of arrangement with Burger King Worldwide Inc.; Canadian Oil Sands in its defence against a hostile bid from Suncor; Oxford Park in its campaign at Extendicare; CanniMed Therapeutics in its defence against Aurora Cannabis, the first hostile bid in the cannabis sector; PointNorth in its action against Liquor Stores; Detour Gold in its defence against Paulson & Co.; Methanex Corporation in its defence against M&G Investments; both Canopy Growth Corp. and Acreage Holdings Inc. in the first large-scale cross-border cannabis M&A deal; and Inter Pipeline in its defence against Brookfield Infrastructure Partners. He is regularly quoted by national and international financial media, has appeared on BNN-Bloomberg, and is a regular contributor to The Globe and Mail.

Ian was named one of M&A Advisor’s Top 40 Under 40 Emerging Leaders, the only Canadian in his award category on the list of U.S. award winners, recognizing his expertise in communication strategy and crisis management. Prior to joining Kingsdale, Ian spent over a decade in politics having served as a Chief of Staff and Campaign Manager for a major political party.

He has extensive experience managing controversial issues and high-profile negotiations and navigating complex, highly regulated stakeholder and legal environments, including working for an international development agency with operations in Africa, Asia, and South America and developing crisis response strategies for the Ontario Government during the 2003 North American blackout and SARS emergency. Ian holds an Honours B.A. from the University of Western Ontario.