The Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec has bought another six million common shares of Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services Inc. The share purchase, announced Monday, represents an additional investment of close to $200-million in this Quebec City company.
The shares are about 7 per cent of the insurance company's overall capital base of more than 84 million common shares.
Industrial Alliance is Canada's fourth-largest life insurer, with about 3,900 employees and more than $70-billion in assets.
"Industrial Alliance is a long-standing partner of the Caisse," said Normand Provost, chief operating officer of the big pension fund manager.
"Enjoying a leadership position in the country's life and health insurance industry, the company is very well positioned to continue to grow.
"This investment is part of our strategy to invest in high-quality and promising Quebec companies in an effort to generate long-term returns for our depositors."
The Caisse is one of Canada's largest pension funds, with nearly $152-billion in assets at the end of 2010.