The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is investing $500 million in National Bank of Canada to support its acquisition strategy for Canadian Western Bank.
The acquisition deal is worth $5 billion and will give National Bank a presence in Western Canada. Following the Caisse’s investment in National Bank, it will become the second largest shareholder in the financial organization.
“This investment is perfectly aligned with our strategy to expand the reach of Quebec companies in order to consolidate their leadership positions in their sectors,” said Vincent Delisle, executive vice-president and head of liquid markets at the Caisse, in a press release.
Read: Caisse appointing Vincent Delisle as head of liquid markets
In other news, the Caisse is also investing $136 million in Services FLO Inc., an electric vehicle charging network operator.
The series E financing is led by Export Development Canada and will support the company’s continued expansion of its charging network in the U.S. and Canada. The funding will also back the planned launch of new fast-charging and residential stations.
In a press release, Kim Thomassin, executive vice-president and head of Quebec at the Caisse, said the investment organization has been supporting the company for close to a decade through its expansion plans. “This investment by CDPQ will accelerate the deployment of FLO to new markets in addition to promoting the marketing of new products.”
Read: Caisse investing further in electric vehicle charging network
As well, the Caisse and a subsidiary of the Public Sector Pension Investment Board are selling their stakes in Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport back to Hungary via state-owned fund Corvinus International Investment and French construction giant Vinci SA, according to a report by the Montreal Gazette.
The deal, which is worth a total €4.3 billion, will see Hungary and Vinci pay C$4.6 billion to the institutional investor owners and assume C$1.8 billion in loans. Along with the Caisse’s 21.23 per cent share and the PSP Investments’ 55.44 per cent shares through Germany’s AviAlliance GmbH, the other shareholder was Singapore-based GIC (23.33 per cent).
Read: Caisse’s infrastructure arm making key appointments on management team
PSP Investments is also entering an agreement with Crédit Agricole Assurances for the acquisition of its stake in European medical care company Clariane, conditional on the completion of the capital increase reserved by the company.
Once the transaction has been completed, Crédit Agricole Assurances would hold roughly 21.1 per cent of the capital in Clariane. The firm has active operations in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain. It specializes in long-term care nursing homes, specialized care facilities and alternative living solutions.
Read: PSP Investments returns 4.4% led by infrastructure investments