(Montreal) With the financial participation of seven “very well-known” business personalities, Quebec is in the process of setting up an investment fund of around one hundred million dollars to support companies that must transform their business model. business, The Canadian Press has learned.
The government will provide half of the financing through a loan to Investissement Quebec which will vary between 50 million and 75 million, confirms the Minister of the Economy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, in an interview. “There are companies that need to realign their business plan considering the post-COVID novelty in terms of marketing,” he explains. Several companies have to reinvent themselves. ”
A group of seven entrepreneurs will also fund the project, he adds. He did not want to identify them before the fund’s closing scheduled for the end of the year or early 2022. Investment banker Daniel Labrecque, of DNA Capital in Montreal, is the fund’s main manager. He is not among the seven personalities, specifies the minister.
Although the fund’s mission speaks of “recovery” aid, it is not about companies in financial difficulty, but companies that must transform their model, he adds. The support will be granted in the form of loans or equity investments.
The fund could invest in “all sectors combined”. “Of course the seven people have expertise and we will go to areas where at least one or two of them are comfortable. ”
The number of companies that will receive investments has not been determined, but the minister estimates that it will be between 10 and 15 to allow members of the investment committee to ensure adequate monitoring and not to s ‘scatter.
The money invested by the government is part of a larger envelope of $ 300 million provided for in the fall 2020 economic update. The Banque Nationale PME growth fund, which aims to support Quebec SMEs in their transformation digital, is an example of a fund created using these funds. There are still credits to finance others, assures the minister.
A “model of the future”
The Minister is enthusiastic about the collaboration with these seven people “who have already managed companies”. “When the private sector invests money, they are very rigorous. The good news is that we are going to have money with the rest of us, it is not just the government that is going to put up with that. ”
Mr. Fitzgibbon wants greater collaboration between the government and the managers of large fortunes (Family Office). These firms manage the assets of high net worth clients, often entrepreneurs who have sold the family business.
The experience of these entrepreneurs is an asset when it comes to determining the most promising investments for the Quebec economy, according to him. “These are people who have experienced entrepreneurship, who have succeeded. It’s a huge experience. ”
The minister wants to see “proliferate” the number of funds created in partnership with business people. “We are open, in the government, to help Family Offices. This is the future. I believe a lot in private companies that have shareholders who are relevant to their business models. ”