Here we provide an overview of insider trading, investing in Québec companies and news from public companies.
• Also read: Bellus executives have hit the jackpot
• Also read: Mutual funds beating the indices (a little)!
IQ bets $5 million on Deep Sky
Frederic Lalonde, co-founder and CEO of Hopper, has just founded Deep Sky, a Montreal-based start-up whose goal is to “remove gigatons of CO2 from the atmosphere at an unprecedented rate” by developing carbon capture and storage technologies uses. Eastern Canada offers “extraordinary opportunities for large-scale carbon capture, powered by renewable energy,” according to the new company. Investissement Québec and Canadian company Brightspark Ventures have jointly invested US$10 million in Deep Sky. Joost Ouwerkerk, co-founder of Hopper, and Laurence Tosi, former CFO of Airbnb, are also among the founders of Deep Sky.
Nice victory for Julie Godin
Photo from the CGI website
Julie Godin
Julie Godin, co-chair of the board and vice president of planning at CGI, made nearly $2.2 million in gains last week by exercising stock options at consulting services firm Computer. Three other company executives also cashed in: Operations Manager Jean-Michel Baticle received nearly $3.8 million, General Counsel Benoit Dubé nearly $1.4 million, and Nordic and Central Europe Director Torsten Strass nearly $580,000 -Dollar. CGI stock recently hit a new all-time high above $140 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
A Coutu sells Metro
Photo from Jean Coutu’s website
Jean-Michel Coutu
Jean-Michel Coutu, grandson of the famous pharmacist-entrepreneur, sold Metro shares for about $115,000 this week. Mr Coutu, a pharmacist by training, has headed the Jean Coutu Group since the end of September. Metro bought the drugstore chain for $4.5 billion in 2018.
A company from here buys in the west
Access Group, a Montreal-based IT services provider, announced last week that it had acquired Alberta-based MSP Corp. known. The new company, which will be called MSP, will be valued at more than $100 million, according to its controlling shareholders, the Walter family and businessman Fares Kabbani. MSP will bring together around ten subsidiaries and more than 400 professionals.
Koïos raises $6.5 million
Photo from LinkedIn
Mohammed Hanini
Quebec startup Koïos Intelligence has raised $6.5 million in a funding round involving businesswoman Geneviève Biron, Export Development Canada, the federal government and Caisse Desjardins des Technologies. Founded in 2017 by Mohamed Hanini, Koïos offers the insurance and financial sectors systems based in particular on artificial intelligence.
A local SME sold
British Columbia investment company NCP Capital Partners recently acquired WR Transformateurs in Saint-Alphonse-de-Granby. WR designs and manufactures a wide range of high quality transformers that are air-cooled instead of oil-cooled, which is healthier for the environment. Founded in 2013 by Christian Roberge, the company benefited from a $5 million investment from Fondaction in 2020.
Obeo raises $3 million
Entrepreneur Renaud Lavoie has just raised $3 million for his new venture, Obeo Biogas. The funding round was led by Diagram Ventures, a company that has invested in Dialogue and Nesto, among others. Founded in February, Obeo specializes in the design, construction and operation of biogas systems specifically for dairy farms.