Quebec prepared to assist with financing for any Logistec deal: Fitzgibbon

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Quebec is able to play a job in guaranteeing that marine companies supplier Logistec Corp. can stay regionally held, financial system minister Pierre Fitzgibbon mentioned Friday.

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Montreal-based Logistec mentioned final week it had shaped a particular board committee to overview the strategic options out there to the corporate, together with a sale. TD Securities has been employed as monetary adviser, the corporate mentioned Could 19.

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The transfer got here after Logistec’s major shareholder, Sumanic Investments Inc., knowledgeable the board of its curiosity in contemplating the sale of all or a part of its shares. Sumanic, which is managed by Logistec chief government officer Madeleine Paquin and her two sisters, additionally urged the corporate “to provoke a course of to pursue a strategic transaction in the perfect curiosity of all stakeholders, as a way to maximize shareholder worth.” The Paquin sisters’ father, Roger, based the corporate in 1952.

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“As in all conditions, we don’t prefer to see a risk of a overseas takeover of an organization,” Fitzgibbon informed reporters Friday in Montreal after attending a presentation to Investissement Québec staff.

“Ms. Paquin is conscious that Investissement Québec and the federal government are able to play a job, relying on what they’ll do. To be sincere with you, I don’t have the element of what they’ll do. We perceive the strategic intention. They know that we’re curious about taking part.”

Logistec hasn’t set a definitive schedule to finish its strategic overview. No resolution has been made at the moment whether or not to pursue a transaction or keep the established order, the corporate mentioned Could 19.

As of mid-afternoon Friday, Logistec had a market worth of about $780 million, based on Google Finance knowledge. The corporate had about 3,400 staff in 2022 and income of $898 million.

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Investissement Québec has a devoted fund that might be tapped to offer financing for a transaction involving Logistec, Fitzgibbon mentioned.

“We have now the capability to take a position,” he mentioned. “We have now a progress fund, the Fonds pour la croissance des entreprises québécoises, that we created for this. It’s clear that the corporate is conscious that we are able to take part. They’ve two companies and we now have to see how issues will unfold. I don’t have a agency opinion on this. I hope we will probably be on the desk to see what occurs.”

When requested for a response to Fitzgibbon’s feedback, Logistec vice-president of technique and communications Marie-Chantal Savoy referred to the corporate’s Could 19 assertion and supplied no additional perception.

Logistec gives companies to marine and industrial corporations in bulk, break-bulk and container cargo dealing with in 60 ports and 90 terminals in North America. It additionally has an environmental unit that gives companies akin to dredging and the renewal of underground water mains to industrial and authorities prospects.

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