CPDQ and Ardian Announce Closing of Acquisition of Significant Equity Interest in Alvest

Montreal (ots/PRNewswire) -

Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), a leading
institutional asset manager, and Ardian, an independent private
investment company, have completed the acquisition of a significant
stake in Alvest, the global leader in the development, production,
distribution and support of airport Ground Support Equipment (GSE).
Alvest's customers, including passenger airlines, cargo airlines,
ground handlers and airport authorities, will benefit from this
investment through Alvest's enhanced capacity to bring new and
innovative solutions to the market. The investment will also
contribute to Alvest's efforts to continue building its global
footprint.

As a leader within the growing and evolving GSE sector, Alvest is
well positioned to lead the aviation industry's technological and
environmental shift toward reducing its emissions on the tarmac.
Alvest's Taxibot, a hybrid taxiing vehicle and the only certified
green-taxiing solution in the world, is uniquely catering to the
industry's challenge to reduce CO2 emissions. By taxiing aircraft
without using its jet engines, Taxibot significantly reduces fuel
burn and emissions of flights while lowering airliners' dependence on
fossil fuels. Alvest is also bringing a complete range of electric
equipment to market, including driverless vehicles, allowing airports
to go greener.

Jean-Marie Fulconis, CEO of Alvest said: "Our team is very proud
to partner with CDPQ and Ardian, which have committed to support
Alvest's projects and development strategy. This powerful long-term
backing will allow us to continue to make substantial investments in
new technologies and products, and to bring our support and green
contribution to our customers, and the aviation industry, to the next
level."

Stéphane Etroy, Executive Vice-President and Head of Private
Equity, CDPQ, said: "Alvest is the right fit for us. Its airport
equipment technology and services contribute to the aviation
industry's shift toward a lower-carbon future and are strongly
aligned with our climate change strategy. More broadly, Alvest is a
leader in all its main business lines internationally and has a
resilient, diversified and well-balanced business model in a growing
market. Alongside Alvest's experienced management team and our
partners, we look forward to participating in the company's future
growth in new and existing markets."

Dominique Gaillard, Head of Ardian Direct Funds added: "This
transaction marks the second time that we have invested in Alvest,
having been shareholders from 2006 to 2013. With our Ardian
Co-Investment team, we are delighted to again support the company and
the strong management team led by Jean-Marie Fulconis in this new
phase of its development."

Alvest's history has been marked by successful research and
development investment, continuous market share gains within the
strategic and consolidating GSE sector, and a strong long-term
financial performance that have strengthened its leadership position
over several decades. As part of this transaction, Alvest's
management team and Sagard are reinvesting to continue supporting its
future growth.

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 June 30, 2017, it held
CAD$286.5 billion in net assets. As one of Canada's leading
institutional fund managers, CDPQ invests globally in major financial
markets, private equity, infrastructure, real estate and private
debt. For more information, visit cdpq.com (http://www.cdpq.com/en),
follow us on Twitter @LaCDPQ (https://twitter.com/laCDPQ?lang=fr) or
consult our Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/CDPQ-886100618136035/)
or LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/cdpq) pages.

ABOUT ARDIAN

Ardian is a world-leading private investment house with assets of
US$66bn managed or advised in Europe, North America and Asia. The
company is majority-owned by its employees. It keeps entrepreneurship
at its heart and focuses on delivering excellent investment
performance to its global investor base. Through its commitment to
shared outcomes for all stakeholders, Ardian's activities fuel
individual, corporate and economic growth around the world. Holding
close its core values of excellence, loyalty and entrepreneurship,
Ardian maintains a truly global network, with more than 480 employees
working from twelve offices across Europe (Frankfurt, Jersey, London,
Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Zurich), North America (New
York, San Francisco) and Asia (Beijing, Singapore). It manages funds
on behalf of 610 clients through five pillars of investment
expertise: Funds of Funds, Direct Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate
and Private Debt.

ots Originaltext: Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Contact:
CDPQ
Canada
Jean-Benoît Houde
Senior Advisor
Media and Public Relations
+1-514-847-5493
+1-514-652-4344
jbhoude@cdpq.com

International
CESALTINE GREGORIO
Senior Advisory Director
Global Media Relations
+1-212-596-6314
+1-347-241-3248
cgregorio@cdpq.com

Ardian
SIMON ZAKS
Image 7
+33-1-53-70-74-63
szaks@image7.fr

ANNE-CHARLOTTE CREAC'H
Image 7
+33-1-53-70-94-21
accreach@image7.fr

Original-Content von: Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, übermittelt durch news aktuell