An agreement has been reached for the purchase of the Montreal Alouettes. The transaction will be announced on Friday.
The new team owner will be revealed in the morning; we will then know if it is Quebecor or the main leader of this Montreal conglomerate, Pierre Karl Péladeau.
A press conference is scheduled at the Olympic Stadium, learned The Press. Canadian Football League (CFL) Commissioner Randy Ambrosie will be on hand for the announcement.
At the start of the official and exclusive negotiations that began in mid-February, it seemed that Quebecor was the preferred buyer. But during the process, Pierre Karl Péladeau would have considered buying the team in his own name.
This avenue was even seriously considered, according to our information.
Such a decision would give Pierre Karl Péladeau free rein in the management of the organization and would in particular avoid an impact on the profitability of the Sports and entertainment sector of Quebecor Media, which includes the Remparts de Québec and the Armada de Blainville-Boisbriand. , two teams of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, as well as the management and operating activities of the Videotron Center in Quebec City.
The Alouettes lost millions in 2019. They also lost money in 2020, as the CFL season was canceled that year due to the pandemic. The team also lost several million in 2021, while last year’s losses are estimated at between 6 and 8 million.
PHOTO SPENCER COLBY, THE CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
Quebecor CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau
Pierre Karl Péladeau is CEO of Quebecor and also its controlling shareholder. Forbes estimates the personal fortune of the former leader of the Parti Québécois at 1.8 billion US.
The exclusivity of the negotiations for the purchase of the Alouettes was quickly granted to Quebecor shortly after the official sale of the team in mid-February by the Canadian Football League. The league commissioner had also indicated at that time that he had already initiated an “accelerated” process to sell the team to new owners.
The Montreal football club has been under the supervision of the CFL since February 14.
Commissioner Randy Ambrosie said last month that the league he leads had acquired the Alouettes from their former owners, Gary Stern and the estate of the late Sid Spiegel.
The club was purchased in 2020 by Ontario businessmen Sid Spiegel and Gary Stern. The season had been canceled that year due to the pandemic, and the death of Sid Spiegel the following year had created a void and uncertainty around the team’s future.
The management of the Alouettes’ sale process has been entrusted to Park Lane, a merchant bank in Santa Monica, California, which counts the Canadian Football League among its clients to which it provides consulting services, among other things.
Montreal conglomerate Quebecor, whose stock is traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange, owes most of its revenues and profits to its subsidiary Videotron and holds a 65% stake in Groupe TVA.