In the eye of Quebec Inc.: a Briton steals our electric snowmobiles

In this column, we provide an overview of insider transactions and investments in Quebec companies.

Taxpayers will lose $25 million

British entrepreneur Stewart Wilkinson obtained the green light from the Superior Court to buy the Quebec manufacturer of snowmobiles and electric watercraft Taiga, which had been insolvent since the summer. The company was drowning in debts of more than $93 million. Of this sum, Taiga owed $20.7 million to Investissement Québec and $4 million to Ottawa. Mr. Stewart co-founded a boat electrification company, Vita, in 2017.

Americans buy Tornatech

The American investment firm Tinicum has acquired the Laval-based company Tornatech, which presents itself as one of the world’s largest manufacturers of fire-fighting pump controllers for large buildings. Founded in 1985, the company has factories in Quebec, Belgium and the United Arab Emirates. Tornatech co-presidents Marc Goupil and Dominic Bergeron will retain a minority stake in the company. The Caisse de dépôt has been a shareholder of Tornatech since 2014.

Big sale at Savaria

The chairman of the board of directors and former CEO of Savaria, Marcel Bourassa, sold shares of the residential elevator manufacturer for more than $41 million at the end of September. Its stake in the Laval company thus fell from 18.9% to 16%. The transaction was made “for personal reasons, for family estate planning purposes and to support philanthropic works,” explained Mr. Bourassa. Savaria’s stock has jumped more than 50% since the start of the year.

Blackstone avale Vizimax

The SME Vizimax of Longueuil has accepted an offer to purchase the American group Power Grid Components, which belongs to the investment giant Blackstone. Founded in 1988, Vizimax sells electrical network switching, measurement and control products. The Vancouver firm Yaletown Partners had owned Vizimax for several years.

A VP of Osisko fits

The vice-president of legal affairs at Osisko Gold Royalties, André Le Bel, made a profit of more than $225,000 by exercising stock options in the Montreal mining company last month. Osisko’s stock has climbed nearly 40% since the start of the year, benefiting in particular from the jump in the price of gold.

French people buy

The French group HR Path, specializing in digital human resources management, announced this week the acquisition of the Quebec company IN-RGY. Founded in 2008 by Sébastien Massicotte, IN-RGY has around 80 employees. Desjardins and the French firm Siparex were shareholders in the company.

Another nice win for the CEO of TFI

The big boss of TFI International, Alain Bédard, received a gain of more than $3.9 million by exercising options in the Quebec trucking company almost a month ago. The manager regularly carries out transactions of this type, which have allowed him to pocket tens of millions of dollars in recent years.