Contrary to what one might think, business development organizations like Investissement Québec are often powerless against foreign bids.
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New Look (eye care), Camso (tires), Element AI (IT), Spectra Premium (car parts), KDC/One (cosmetics), C Series (aircraft), Mnubo (software). .
Several companies here have been sold to foreigners in recent years, despite having Quebec institutional investors among their shareholders.
In some cases, like New Look and KDC/One, the Caisse became a minority shareholder, but this did not prevent the company from passing under foreign control.
capital glow
For now, the billions of dollars in public funds that Quebec Inc., through organizations linked to the State of Quebec, have not allowed to reverse the upward trend in company sales to foreign interests.
The problem is that capital has rarely been so plentiful in the financial sector, a situation that makes life difficult for Quebecers looking to acquire businesses from here, points out Professor Louis Hébert of HEC Montreal.
“In 2021, there was an explosion of corporate takeovers around the world,” he says.
We at the Fonds de solidarité FTQ are at the forefront of this phenomenon.
“It is certain that we regularly have strangers at the table in the transactions we look at,” confirms Dany Pelletier, first v.-p. to the investments of the institution.
“If someone decides to offer significantly more for all sorts of reasons, we may not succeed in the transaction,” he continues. After that, we look at each other and ask ourselves, ‘Did we do everything we had to do to keep this company in Quebec? How can we improve in the future?” We really follow these transactions. »
“Quebec Solution”
Dany Pelletier, first vice president of investments at Fonds de solidarité FTQ, explains that Quebec investors still know how to get out of the game.
Dany Pelletier assures that the FTQ fund manages to save Quebec companies from the clutches of foreign buyers several times a year.
“Our job is to see these transactions to find a solution for Quebec and offer it to the entrepreneur who wants to sell,” he explains.
“We’re fine,” adds Mr. Pelletier. Do we hit 100%? The answer is no, but we think our batting average is still pretty good. »
The last word to the owner
Nothing prevents an entrepreneur from selling to whomever he wants. Plastique Micron passed into American hands in 2019, although Investissement Québec and Fonds FTQ owned 60% of the company.
“In the end, the entrepreneur decides,” says Dany Pelletier, without going into detail about the Micron case.
“We don’t want to be the one operating [l’entreprise] ‘ he starts.
The fund’s number two FTQ also reminds us that entrepreneurs have a role to play in ensuring local buyers are in the running.
“You can find a Quebec buyer more easily if there is good succession planning in the company,” he says.
