It can, if after closing the U.S. company is a parent, subsidiary, branch or affiliate of the Canadian employer under the ownership and control rules, both entities remain active, and the transferee has one qualifying year abroad and will fill a primarily managerial or executive position. The acquisition documents must prove the relationship.
The purchase creates the relationship only if ownership and control line up
The L-1 regulation defines the relationship by who owns and who controls. If the Canadian corporation bought a majority of the U.S. dealership, the dealership is its subsidiary and the requirement is met on the share register. If the purchase was structured through a holding company, a family trust or the owner personally, the chain has to be traced entity by entity until common ownership and control appear at the top. A minority purchase, or a purchase with control rights left with the U.S. seller, may not qualify at all. Beyond the relationship, the group must show both businesses will keep trading, that Tomasz has his qualifying year, and that the U.S. role is primarily managerial — with staff to manage — rather than a working owner's job. Each of those is a separate requirement and each needs its own documents.
Hypothetical example: The director of a Canadian commercial-laundry group is moving to oversee its newly purchased U.S. plant. The review first traces ownership from share registers and closing papers, then compares the director’s foreign duties with the proposed U.S. organization chart. The record that settles capacity is not the title; it is evidence of authority over a department, professional staff or managers. A common failure is presenting a senior operator who will personally run shifts because the U.S. workforce has not been hired. The company should decide whether to staff the role before filing or postpone the transfer.