In the eye of Quebec inc.: two leaders of Dollarama cash in on nice profits

Each week, we provide an overview of insider trading, investment in local businesses and news from listed companies.

• Read also: Coming soon to $5 products at Dollarama

They exercise stock options

Dollarama’s Chief Operating Officer, Johanne Choiniere, pocketed a gain of nearly $6.8 million by exercising stock options in the Quebec company this week. His colleague Josée Kouri, who holds the position of senior vice-president of legal affairs, for her part made a gain of more than $2.6 million in the same way. The retailer’s stock recently hit an all-time high of over $76.50 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Note that the Rossy Foundation, controlled by the founding family of Dollarama, announced last week the sale of a block of shares in the company worth more than $82 million.

W Investments raises $150 million

The Montreal firm W Investissements revealed this week that it has raised $150 million for its second fund. Of this amount, no less than $125 million was collected from Quebec entrepreneurs and investors, including Desjardins, which bet $25 million. W invests in Quebec companies with a value of at least $30 million. Its portfolio includes Lion Electric, Devimco, Averna, Cognibox and Gelpac.

Noble Foods sold to Europeans

The Pointe-Claire nutrition and energy bar manufacturer Noble Foods was recently swallowed up by the Belgian company EMPWR for an undisclosed sum. Founded in 1999, Noble belonged since 2018 to the firm Novacap of Brossard in the wake of a transaction financed in part by Investissement Québec. In 2020, Noble got his hands on Betty Lou, an Oregon company.

AI help for BRP

Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP) in Valcourt has just received $2.1 million in aid from the Scale AI supercluster to launch a $4.4 million artificial intelligence project. “We are looking to improve our ability to predict customer demand, which will improve the efficiency and agility of our supply chain,” explained Sandy Scullion, a BRP executive. Scale AI is funded by Ottawa and Quebec.

They buy Taiga and New World

Nathalie Pilon, who has been on the board of directors of Nouveau Monde Graphite since the end of 2020, has just bought her first shares in the Quebec mining company. This week, she invested just over $85,000 in Nouveau Monde. M^me Pilon is a former president of the Canadian division of the Swedish-Swiss multinational ABB. For his part, the new chief financial officer of Taiga Motors, Éric Bussières, has bet $50,000 on the manufacturer of electric snowmobiles and personal watercraft.

Two Savaria executives exercise options

Three directors of Savaria have recently exercised options. Caroline Berube made a profit of just over $100,000, while Jean-Louis Chapdelaine earned close to $95,000 and Peter Drutz just over $85,000. Laval-based manufacturer of residential elevators and stairlifts, Savaria has a market value of approximately $1 billion.