Less than a year after receiving financial support of $98 million from the Quebec government, Polycor has just announced two major acquisitions, one in France and the other in Ontario.
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The Quebec company has agreed with the majority shareholders of Rocamat to get hold of the French group, which employs nearly 160 people in 30 limestone quarries and four processing plants. Polycor was already a minority shareholder in Rocamat.
“This proposed acquisition is a natural step for Polycor’s growth,” Polycor CEO Patrick Perus said in a statement Monday.
Earlier this month, Polycor completed the acquisition of Ebel Quarries, a quarrying and limestone products manufacturing company located in Wiarton, Ontario.
The purchase of Ebel will allow Polycor to “strengthen [sa] position as the world leader in the natural stone industry,” Mr. Perus said in a press release.
Lobbying and state support
Remember that last May, the Minister of the Economy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, announced investments of $60 million from the government and $38 million from Investissement Québec in Polycor.
“We are committed to protecting and strengthening our strategic head offices,” the minister said at the time. That is exactly what we are doing with these investments. In addition, we will support the company in its growth, its conquest of foreign markets and its automation.”
And dinner with Fitzgibbon
Two months before the government decided to invest, Mr. Fitzgibbon had received a call from Patrick Perus to sound out his interest.
And the very evening of the announcement, the minister went to dinner at the restaurant with his friend Luc Laperrière, a former lobbyist for Polycor.
♦ Founded in Quebec in 1987, Polycor employs nearly 1,350 people in some fifty quarries and 20 manufacturing plants.