After a career spent working on takeovers around the world, former Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. chief financial officer Claude Tessier is joining investment bank Greenhill & Co. to advise Canadian companies with global ambitions.
On Wednesday, Greenhill named Mr. Tessier as its Montreal-based senior adviser, the latest Canadian appointment for a New York-based investment bank focused on mergers and acquisitions, restructurings and private financings.
Mr. Tessier oversaw a series of successful takeovers during his seven years as Couche-Tard’s ATD-T CFO, and made the decision not to move forward on far more acquisitions, including deals for stores in Australia and France. He also served as Sobeys’ president in Quebec and in strategy roles at Provigo and Costco Wholesale Corp. At Greenhill, he will focus on helping Quebec companies and domestic retail and consumer product businesses with their expansion strategies.
“I’m excited by the opportunity to help build businesses, and give back, working with a global team at Greenhill,” Mr. Tessier said in an interview. The 60-year-old serves on the board of three Canadian companies with global operations – stock exchange operator TMX Group Ltd. X-T, engineering company WSP Global Inc. WSP-T and packaging business CCL Industries Inc CCL-B-T.
Greenhill, which has 15 offices in 11 countries, established an office in Toronto in 2006 and added talent eight years ago by hiring three bankers from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. They are Steve Mayer, who is president of Greenhill Canada, Michael Nessim and Usman Masood.
Over the past eight years, the bankers worked on deals for Couche-Tard and a number of other Canadian retailers, including Sobeys parent Empire Co. Ltd. and Aritzia Inc. The company also worked with Montreal-based Cirque du Soleil during its COVID 19 pandemic-induced financial restructuring.
“An executive of Claude’s calibre brings complementary skills to our team and our clients,” Mr. Mayer said. “I’ve known Claude for over 25 years and look forward to working together to further expand our Canadian franchise and our business in Quebec.”
Canadian companies are consistently looking at foreign acquisitions as part of their expansion plans, and Mr. Tessier said the mixed track record on these takeovers shows growth strategies need to be disciplined and thoughtful. In 2023, a relatively quiet year for M&A activity, Canadian companies committed $82.3-billion to 603 cross-border takeovers, according to data from investment bank Crosbie & Co.
Many investment banks recruit former politicians as rainmaking advisers, bringing them in to help businesses negotiate with governments and regulators. Greenhill, an investment dealer focused on M&A, is taking a slightly different path by hiring a veteran CFO with operating skills who spent his career alongside bankers and lawyers, executing large transactions.
Last year, Tokyo-based bank Mizuho Financial Group Inc. acquired Greenhill for US$550-million. Mizuho is one of the world’s largest banks, with 60,000 employees in 35 countries.
Andrew Willis