Quebec is preparing to grant a $40 million grant to the French multinational Saint-Gobain — of which the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) is a shareholder — to help it reduce the carbon footprint of its Montérégie facilities, learned The Journal.
The company is to announce today a $91 million investment in the expansion and modernization of the gypsum board manufacturing plant of its subsidiary CertainTeed Canada. Located in Sainte-Catherine, a suburb of Montreal, the latter has already been identified as one of the most polluting in the province.
Of the total, nearly half (44%) of the future investment will come from a provincial government grant, awarded under the Transition Énergie Québec (TEQ) program. The Minister of Energy and Natural Resources (MERN), Jonatan Julien, responsible for this program, did not respond to our request for an interview.
The Caisse is a shareholder
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) is a long-time shareholder of this major European manufacturer and distributor of building materials, listed on the Paris Stock Exchange. In its most recent report, the Caisse revealed that it held 416,000 shares of Saint-Gobain, for a value of $37 million.
The French company is considered a giant in the construction industry. At the end of 2021, the company had nearly 170,000 employees and 800 production units, located in 75 countries, including Canada. Three quarters of its sales of 59.44 billion dollars (or 44.2 billion euros) are now made outside France.
Last week, Saint-Gobain also announced the acquisition of the Canadian Kaycan, of Montreal, a major manufacturer and distributor of outdoor building materials, for the sum of 1.17 billion dollars (or US$928 million). It was his third major acquisition on North American soil since 2019.
No more fossil fuels
According to our information, the work it will announce, in the presence of ministers from the Legault government and the management of Hydro-Québec, will allow it to turn its back on the use of fossil fuels, to become 100% electric.
Ultimately, the company claims, the move would reduce its carbon emissions by 44,000 metric tons per year, the equivalent of taking 9,500 cars off the road.
In operation since 1973, the CertainTeed plant in Sainte-Catherine could thus become “the first zero-carbon wall panel manufacturing plant in North America”.
On the stock market, Saint-Gobain’s share price has fallen by 7.56% since the start of 2022. Yesterday, when the Paris prosecutor’s office closed, its stock was trading at 54.73 euros.
Its main shareholders:
