The public company, for which he “paid peanuts” in 2022, keeps Olivier Primeau busy. After three failed transactions in 2023, his company just paid $20 million for a beverage factory in Terrebonne.
“I wanted a shell, I've always taken advantage of public companies,” he says of the $3 million he invested last year in Dominion Water Reserves, renamed Prime Drink.
In an interview with the Journal, Olivier Primeau takes time to breathe. The last two weeks have been full of upheavals for his many businesses.
After Midway Group sold two music festivals to Evenko on Jan. 17, Prime Drink paid $20 million in shares to the pair behind Triani on Monday.
The 38-year-old entrepreneur, who already owns Alcomalts by Beach Day Every Day (BDED), is taking control of a 100,000-square-foot beverage production facility in Terrebonne.
The direction in which his “shell” will go is becoming increasingly clear. For the time being and until at least 2026, the BDED alcohol malts will be manufactured, sold and distributed by Labatt. He only owns the brand, we pay him royalties.
“I just bought a nice security from the factory. We still have a large volume, 700,000 cases a year, and almost no one can produce that,” explains the Montreal South Bank native.
The Terrebonne mega-factory is already at full capacity and generates sales of $20 million per year. It continues to be managed by Tristan Bourgeois Cousineau and Joanie Couture, the embarrassed couple behind Triani.
Accustomed to controversy
Olivier Primeau has always dreamed of controlling a listed company. “We know the potential, people invest in you, they believe in you,” he enthuses.
The country in which he has invested his millions will have almost 40% of the quantity of water authorized in Quebec in 2022, that is, almost 4 billion liters of water per year. This abundance of blue gold is a cause for concern for many Quebecers.
“I paid peanuts for my shell, but as long as I had a shell, I jumped at the chance when I saw the water. “It’s a win that might be my best move in my career,” he admits.
- Listen to the Business and Entrepreneurship column with Philippe-Richard Bertrand discussing Olivier Primeau
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There are no plans to bottle it or sell it to anyone, swears Olivier Primeau. But who knows, he laughs, how much it will be worth “when the Americans attack us for our water”?
He explains that “his” water is not necessary to run the factory. Therefore, we must trust his word again: our water would be safe in his hands.
The presence of Tristan and Joannie doesn't bother him either. The couple have developed a reputation as bullies over the past decade; A regular at the courthouse, he has been the target of at least 20 lawsuits in the last four years alone, either on behalf of Tristan and Joannie or on behalf of one of their companies.
“I can’t defend Joannie and Tristan in their company, but they are solid factory managers and that’s exactly what they will do for Prime Drink: run the factory,” says the group’s majority shareholder.
Every day beach day in Miami
Olivier Primeau would therefore like to use his stock company to convince other investors to join him. Its goal? Compete with Quebec's beverage industry giant, the Geloso Group, whose mega-factory is located in Laval.
The Geloso family, billionaire and little-known, owns, produces and sells the brands G & Tonik, Julius Bloody Cesar, Poppers, Sangria Pepito, Bulles de Nuit, Boris Bière, Casal Domingo, La Bittt à Tibi, Mons, Cidrerie Beaupré and L 'amoszus.
In addition, there are production or distribution agreements with international brands such as Truly Hard Seltzers, Twisted Tea, Samuel Adams, Bavaria and Baccardi Breezers.
The war that begins is therefore unequal for the time being. But Primeau's word, he will deliver the fight. “I want to make BDED a global brand. Ready-to-drink products in Quebec and elsewhere have exploded in the last 10 years, we will benefit from this,” he says.
Next step: launching BDED in 20,000 points of sale across the United States. Olivier Primeau can already imagine himself getting off the plane in Miami in front of a large, colorful advertisement for his brand. Beach Day Every Day, he says with a laugh.
Olivier Primeau's companies
Midway Group
Sector: Event
Characteristics: Beach club in Pointe-Calumet, the Escapade Festival in Ottawa (with Live Nation)
Primeau family (with his father and brother)
Sector: Grocery store and commercial real estate
Characteristics: Two IGA supermarkets and commercial buildings worth tens of millions of dollars
Prime drink
Sector: Water/drinks
Characteristics: He owns 13% of PRIME shares worth $3 million
Westwood Bar & Grill
Sector: Restoration
Characteristics: He was a partner in about twenty restaurants, but is now a partner in only one: Westwood in Laval
Beach day every day
Sector: beverages
Characteristics: Alcohol and energy drink
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