Cominar had to clean up its workforce in Quebec and Montreal before being able to conclude the largest commercial real estate transaction in the history of Quebec, which has been done since yesterday.
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These last weeks, The newspaper spoke with employees who were laid off by the management of the real estate investment trust and who did not receive a job offer from one of the acquirers, either Canderel, the Mach Group or Blackstone.
Preferring to keep their names silent to avoid reprisals, some have deplored the fact that the Mach Group has not taken over all the staff linked to the buildings purchased, when it would have advertised positions linked to these new assets.
Some of the employees who were made redundant had good conditions and years of experience. An employee believes that Cominar has not done enough to protect all of its troops in this transaction.
Another worker told the Journal to have especially been “surprised” and “disappointed” with the way he was treated “following all these years”. He says communications with some members of management have been more difficult since December.
According to Cominar, “less than 10%” of employees have been notified of the end of their employment. They should receive, in the coming weeks, financial compensation and have access to a reclassification program.
Access to employee lists
As of December 31, the Fund had 524 workers, including 403 full-time.
Management figures the number of permanent layoffs in Quebec and Montreal at less than 40. About 30 construction workers were also returned on Friday to the labor pools managed by the Commission de la construction du Québec.
Photo taken from the Cominar website
At the time of the transaction, completed yesterday, the Cominar real estate investment fund held no less than 309 buildings, including Mail Champlain, in Brossard.
Cominar, however, refuses to provide a precise figure on the number of employees affected. The Fund mentions that there have also been several voluntary departures in recent weeks.
As part of the transaction, according to our information, Canderel, Groupe Mach and Blackstone would have had access to Cominar’s employee lists. They would then have selected the people they wanted to keep.
Closed yesterday
In recent days, Cominar had obtained the final authorizations necessary to sell its industrial portfolio to Blackstone.
Yesterday the entire transaction was completed. The Fund’s units will be delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange by the close of business on March 4.
As part of this acquisition, Groupe Mach snatched up 42 commercial properties and office buildings, including Place de la Cité, in Quebec City, and 2001 McGill College Avenue, in Montreal, for $1.5 billion. $.
“We are proud to have hired close to a hundred talented people who will enable us to support these assets. It must be said that we already had offices in Quebec,” says Daniel Durand, vice-president, marketing and communications, at Groupe Mach.
The Canderel Group and its partners, FrontFour, Koch, Artis and Sandpiper, keep the other buildings.
The transaction estimated at $5.7 billion, including the debt, had obtained the approval of the Superior Court of Quebec before the holiday season. For fiscal year 2021, Cominar recorded a net loss of $195.3 million.
