It is the end of a great Quebec company. Quebec-based nutraceutical company Atrium Innovations will cease operations by March 30. The news was announced earlier this week. Eighty people lose their jobs.
A collective dismissal notice was sent to the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Solidarity on November 30.
Co-founded by Luc and Éric Dupont in 1999, Atrium was managed by the current Quebec Minister of the Economy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, from 2007 to 2014. He was the big boss when the company was sold for the sum of $ 1.00. 1 billion to the Permira investment fund, in 2013.
PHOTO ROBERT MAILLOUX, ARCHIVES THE PRESS
Pierre Fitzgibbon at Atrium in 2008
Subsequently, Atrium was sold to the Swiss multinational Nestlé in 2017 for 2.9 billion. Historical shareholders of Atrium, the Fonds de solidarité FTQ and the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, remained in the picture until the acquisition by Nestlé.
“Nestlé will provide Atrium with the necessary resources to accelerate the growth of its brands and benefit even more people around the world,” said Peter Luther, President of Atrium Innovations.
At that time, the specialist in health products and vitamin supplements had sales of 700 million in more than 50 countries, mainly in North America, Europe and Asia.
At this time, Atrium had 1,400 employees in seven production units. It owned the Garden of Life, Pure Encapsulations and Douglas Laboratories brands.
Discreetly acquired in the summer of 2021
Atrium quietly changed its name last July when Utah-based Innovative Labs took over ownership. “The Atrium Innovations Québec manufacturing site is changing to become INNOVATIVE LABS CANADA! New name, same team! “, Said the company in a job offer that can still be viewed on the Jobillico site.
Innovative Labs is a specialist in the manufacture of liquid products.
Our requests for explanations addressed to the head office of the American company remained unanswered. A call for Atrium installations in the Technological Park of Metropolitan Quebec did not follow on Friday, despite a promise of follow-up. At Quebec International, an economic promotion organization for the Capitale-Nationale region, we were not aware of the closure.
Before co-founding Atrium, Eric and Luc Dupont had set up the company Æterna Zentaris. More recently, the Dupont brothers created the cosmetics company IDC Dermo.
With the collaboration of William Leclerc, Press