Caisse de dépôt shifts to direct ownership stake in SPIE

The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec has invested an additional €30 million ($44.4 million) in SPIE, a European provider of engineering and technical services. At the same time, Clayax Acquisition Luxembourg 5 SCA, a SPIE investment vehicle owned by the Caisse, Ardian and Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, will distribute to the Caisse its pro rata shares on March 30. As a result of these deals, the Caisse, which has backed SPIE since 2011, will now directly hold 13.2 percent of the company’s share capital. The Montréal-based pension fund manager said the investment will support SPIE’s growth strategy.

PRESS RELEASE

La Caisse increases its ownership interest in SPIE

Montréal, March 24, 2016 – Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (“CDPQ”) announced a further investment of approximately EUR 30 million in SPIE, a European leader in multi-technical services in energy and communications, through the acquisition of 1,809,400 shares.

At the same time, Clayax Acquisition Luxembourg 5 S.C.A (“Clayax”) will distribute to CDPQ its pro rata shares in SPIE (12,459,631) in a transaction scheduled to take place on March 30, 2016,

As a result of these transactions, CDPQ will no longer hold an ownership interest in Clayax and will instead directly hold a total of 20,369,031 shares in SPIE, or 13.2% of the company’s share capital.

“As a long-term investor in high-performing companies, we are pleased to be able to strengthen our ownership position in an industry leader such as SPIE. We continue to be confident in the company’s expertise and in its management team’s ability to pursue its growth and development strategy,” said Andreas Beroutsos, Executive Vice-President, Private Equity and Infrastructure at la Caisse.

ABOUT SPIE

As the independent European leader in multi-technical services in the areas of energy and communications, SPIE helps its customers design, build, operate and maintain energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly facilities.

With more than 38,000 employees working from close to 600 sites in 38 countries, SPIE achieved consolidated revenues of EUR 5.3 billion in 2015 and consolidated EBITA of EUR 351 million.

ABOUT CAISSE DE DÉPÔT ET PLACEMENT DU QUÉBEC

Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) is a long-term institutional investor that manages funds primarily for public and parapublic pension and insurance plans. As at December 31, 2015, it held $248.0 billion in net assets. As one of Canada’s leading institutional fund managers, CDPQ invests globally in major financial markets, private equity, infrastructure and real estate. For more information, visit cdpq.com, follow us on Twitter @LaCDPQ ou consultez nos pages Facebook ou LinkedIn.

Photo courtesy of Spie