The Caisse de Depot has selected an American employed by the controversial McKinsey firm to represent them on the Alstom board.
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Jay Walder has been a senior advisor at McKinsey since May 2022, succeeding Serge Godin on the board of the French rail vehicle manufacturer.
Serge Godin photo from the CGI website
Mr. Godin, CEO of Quebec computer giant CGI, has represented the Caisse at Alstom since autumn 2020. He resigned last November.
“He went on his own initiative,” Caisse spokeswoman Kate Monfette told the Journal.
Along with Alimentation Couche-Tard, Apple, Microsoft, WSP Global, Canadian National and Intact, Alstom is one of the Caisse’s largest investments in a public company.
La Caisse increased its stake in Alstom in early 2021 to help the latter acquire Bombardier Transportation for $8.4 billion.
A big loss on paper
The Caisse’s investment, which cost around $4.5 billion, is now $2.6 billion, down more than 40%.
“Mr. Walder is a railroad expert who has covered many of the major markets where Alstom sees growth opportunities,” said Monfette. Alstom’s board members and executives welcomed his candidacy and recognized his significant contribution as head of public transportation networks in New York , Hong Kong and Boston.”
Jay Walder photo from LinkedIn
The Caisse’s other representative on Alstom’s board is Kim Thomassin, who is responsible for Quebec on the institution’s executive board.