The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec plans to increase its allocation to publicly listed small cap Quebec companies to $200 million from $50 million, effective May 1, 2012.
“The idea is to help develop Quebec’s equity market, but the investment also serves as a springboard for these growing companies, which are often taking a position in global markets,” says Normand Provost, executive vice-president, private equity, with the Caisse. “This portfolio may even allow us to identify Quebec companies destined to become major success stories.”
“Our investment approach is exactly the same as when we invest in private Quebec SMEs: we want to become a long-term partner to these publicly listed companies and work closely with them, supporting their development projects,” added Martin Garand, investment director and portfolio manager dedicated to this mandate.
Since announcing the creation of this specialized portfolio in April 2011, the Caisse has invested in six Quebec companies under this mandate.