Pierre Karl Péladeau is shown at Quebecor’s annual general meeting in May, 2013.Christinne Muschi/The Globe and Mail
Parti Québécois leadership hopeful Pierre Karl Péladeau may insist on holding on to his controlling stake in telecommunications and media empire Quebecor Inc., but the company's top outside shareholder has been making other plans.
Toronto-based fund manager Beutel Goodman & Co. said in a regulatory filing Monday that as of Jan. 30 it held 12.25 million Class B shares, or 9.97 per cent of the B stock in the Quebec company, which owns the Vidéotron cable company and the TVA television network. Beutel had a 22.8-per-cent stake in Quebecor as of last April 30, which it cut to 11.2 per cent in the following two months, according to securities filings. Now that Beutel holds under 10 per cent of the stock, it won't have to disclose any further selling – unless it increases its stake again.
The fund company didn't say in the filing what has prompted the sell-down, using only standard boilerplate language: "The shares were purchased in the ordinary course of business and for investment purposes only. Beutel's client accounts may from time to time acquire additional shares, dispose of some or all of the existing shares or may continue to hold the shares."
Mr. Péladeau continues to exercise nearly 75-per-cent voting control over the company through his holding of the company's multiple-voting Class A shares, though the billionaire son of company founder Pierre Péladeau has been off the board since running for office in Quebec's provincial legislature last year and declaring his interest in leading Quebec to independence.
Sean Silcoff