French private equity company Ardian SAS is opening its first office in Canada to tap what it says is fertile ground for sustainable investments in renewable energy and other sectors.
The Paris-based firm, which counts about US$9.3-billion from Canadian clients out of US$156-billion in total assets under management, is setting up shop in Montreal with a dozen employees to start. The team will be led by Frédérick Castonguay, a finance specialist who previously worked at Blue Bridge Wealth Management and Rio Tinto RTPPF.
The company sees a chance to build on existing partnerships with Canadian pension funds, endowments and other investors. It says having a team on the ground in Canada will boost opportunities for socially responsible investing, adding to Ardian’s existing Canadian holdings such as Maple Leaf – a battery storage joint venture in Ontario with energy supplier Enel X.
“We have a big ambition to grow our footprint,” Mark Benedetti, a member of Ardian’s executive committee and co-head of its U.S. business, said in an interview. “I really feel like it’s just the beginning. I think we can do a lot here.”
The private investment house will take a broad view when weighing how to spend fund money in Canada, Mr. Benedetti said. Still, there will be some clear focus areas, such as renewable energy.
“That could be wind, that could be solar, that could be hydrogen. That could be part of the hydrogen value chain,” he said. “So it’s not just in the creation of the energy itself but also all the different players that contribute to that.”
The Canadian government announced $80-billion in tax credits and investments in its spring budget aimed at promoting clean energy and sustainable infrastructure projects over the next decade. Observers have said they represent an unprecedented industrial policy leap by Canadian standards, even if they are dwarfed in many sectors by new American spending widely expected to surpass Washington’s projection of US$370-billion over a similar period.
Ardian’s investments span private equity, infrastructure, real estate and credit. Montreal will be its third office in North America after New York and San Francisco.
On Thursday, it will announce what it calls a “pioneering private equity investment platform” dedicated to the semi-conductor industry, largely focused on European companies. The sector is hugely strategic for the global economy, with semi-conductor components found in a plethora of consumer and commercial products, from cars to computers.
In addition to Maple Leaf, Ardian’s corporate investments in Canada include Syntax, a Montreal-based IT services company, and Montreal-based New Look Vision, Canada’s biggest eyewear retailer. Clients in Canada include pension giant Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, the City of Montreal, University of Montreal, the Fondation Chagnon and Investment Management Corp. of Ontario.
The Caisse was an early backer of Ardian, when it was the private equity arm of French insurer Axa. Among the first commitments Ardian received from a third-party investor was from the pension fund manager, around 1997. French businesswoman Dominique Senequier led an employee buyout of Axa Private Equity in 2013 and created Ardian.
That relationship with the Caisse led to other local investors for Ardian, and it’s a key part of the reason Ardian set up in Montreal, Mr. Benedetti said. “We owe them a lot,” he said of the Caisse. “It was important to be there with them, alongside them and interacting with them locally with our office here.”
Nicolas Van Praet