Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (la Caisse) and Fonds de solidarité FTQ (le Fonds) have announced that they are purchasing a minority stake in Groupe Océan for $112 million, shared equally between the two investors. Groupe Océan is a Québec-based maritime services provider that primarily operates in Canada, and now also internationally. Groupe Océan will use the proceeds of this investment to expand its Canadian activities, to continue its global growth and to acquire new equipment.
“Our strong growth in recent years combined with our desire to expand our activities internationally is pushing us to accelerate our development. To achieve this, we have joined up with world-class partners, making it possible to take these next steps. With this partnership, we are maintaining our vision of excellence and giving ourselves new leverage to accelerate our growth,” stated Jacques Tanguay, President and Chief Operating Officer of Groupe Océan.
“This transaction is perfectly aligned with la Caisse’s strategy to support the local growth and international expansion of high-performing Québec companies,” said Mathieu Gauvin, Senior Vice-President, Québec at la Caisse. “Through this investment, Groupe Océan will accelerate the implementation of its expansion plan, which will eventually allow it to provide its services in new markets.”
“This investment by le Fonds is in line with our desire to support Québec’s flagships, protect our head offices and support our maritime sector,” added Jean Wilhelmy, Senior Vice-President, Private Equity, at le Fonds. “Groupe Océan shares all these priorities.”