Executive Chairman

Stephen Bronfman

Stephen is the Executive Chairman of Claridge where he has spent more than 20 years guiding the firm’s investment strategy and seeking out unique business opportunities both locally and globally. He is equally committed to environmental, cultural and community causes and, with his wife Claudine, co-chairs the Claudine and Stephen Bronfman Family Foundation. Stephen is also the Chief Revenue Officer of the Liberal Party of Canada and is on the board of the Society for the Celebration of Montréal’s 375^th Anniversary.

At Claridge, Stephen focuses on ventures with solid management and operational credentials, partnering with businesses to achieve long-term value and growth. Investing in sectors ranging from real estate to entertainment, Stephen has led Claridge to strong partnerships and distinct market opportunities with many notable successes, such as:

• SunOpta: An early-stage investment in this organic and specialty foods supplier grew exponentially and led to the creation of Claridge Foods.

• Glutino: Under Claridge’s stewardship, Glutino grew to be the largest gluten-free food company in North America, and was profitably sold in 2011.
• Entertainment: Partnerships led to sold-out world tours by acts such as U2, the Rolling Stones and Madonna, as well as successful Broadway productions that included a Tony Award for “Spamalot”.
• Seville condo project: A complex of 400 condo units was sold out well before construction was completed on this downtown Montreal redevelopment project.
• Lumenpulse: Claridge made an early stage investment in this global lighting company focused on energy-efficient technology, and the company continues on its steep growth rate.
• NetStar Communications Inc.: An investment in one of Canada’s leading providers of specialty television channels, with brands like TSN, RDS and Discovery Channel, doubled in value when sold to CTV just a few years later.

Under Stephen’s leadership, both Claridge and the Foundation continue to seek opportunities to achieve exceptional results in the economic and social spheres.

President and Chief Executive Officer

Pierre Boivin, O.C., C.Q.

Pierre is a builder and a corporate leader. He’s responsible for leading the team of professionals in developing the firm’s existing investment portfolio, playing a lead role in its future acquisitions, and strengthening Claridge’s position as a significant player in the mid-market private equity sector in North America.

In 1979, Pierre founded Norvinca Inc., a company that quickly became the largest sporting goods distributor in Canada. He led the company until it was acquired by the Benetton Sports Group in 1992. From 1993 to 1994, Pierre was President and CEO of the Los Angeles-based Weider Sporting Goods Inc., a world leader in sports and fitness equipment manufacturing. In 1994, he was appointed President and CEO of Canstar Sports Inc., a Montreal-based public company and a world leader in the hockey equipment industry, which he  sold to Nike Inc. in 1995 for a 50% premium. He remained the President and CEO until 1999, when he became President and CEO of the Montreal Canadiens and Evenko. During his tenure (1999-2010), the enterprise was sold twice and generated an annualised return of 30%. Pierre has a strong track record in operations, defining and executing exit strategies and creating significant shareholder value.

Pierre is a former Chairman of Quebec Special Olympics and a former member of the Board of Special Olympics Canada. From 2006 to 2012, he was the Chairman of the Board of CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation, the second largest pediatric hospital in North America. He is currently the Chairman of the Board of the Montreal Canadiens Children’s Foundation, which he created in 2000. Pierre serves as a member of the following boards: Montreal Canadiens; Canadian Tire Corp. and National Bank. In 2009, he was awarded a Ph.D. honoris causa from the Université de Montréal and was appointed Officer of the Order of Canada.

Zeno Santache, CPA, CA

Zeno joined Claridge in 2003. He is responsible for supervising 24 direct staff and multiple divisional controllers. He has undertaken the lead on M&A and divestiture related activity including due diligence, amalgamation and restructuring activities as well as post closing financing and development. Zeno is also involved in corporate governance and is a member of several boards and audit committees.

Zeno is a native Montrealer and attended both Concordia University (Bachelor of Commerce) and McGill University (Graduate Diploma of Accountancy). He’s also held Director level positions at BCE and the Royal Bank of Canada where he was responsible for the listing of the RBC common shares on the NYSE (first Canadian bank to achieve the NYSE listing). Prior to joining Claridge, Zeno served as Vice-President & Controller of Westburne Industries, a multibillion dollar publicly traded company that was a leader in the distribution of plumbing, electrical, industrial and HVAC products in North America. He was a key member of the team responsible for the sale to Rexel S.A. and the post-close sale of the plumbing, industrial and HVAC divisions and restructuring of the Rexel North American divisions.

Frederic Martel, MBA, P. Eng.

Frederic oversees a large part of Claridge’s investment program as well as its asset-mix and risk allocations. Since joining Claridge in 2005, he has been involved and led both direct and fund investments. He has lead investments in private companies spanning a wide variety of industries including renewable energy and entertainment. Frederic is also responsible for leading Claridge’s third party investment activities, overseeing Claridge’s private equity funds and co-investments, hedge funds and public markets funds portfolios.

Frederic holds an MBA from McGill University and a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Université du Québec à Chicoutimi. He started his career as a sales engineer at Nortel Networks in Canada and Europe before taking a job as a sales engineer at Wind River Systems, leading pre and post-sale support for his region. Prior to joining Claridge, Frederic worked in the investment banking group at Desjardins Securities in Montreal where he worked on several mandates including initial public and follow-on equity offerings, private placements, mergers, acquisitions, and fairness opinions.

He also serves as director on the board of a portfolio company and on two fund investments’ advisory boards.

Ludovic Dumas

Ludovic is responsible for sourcing and evaluating potential investment opportunities, overseeing due diligence, and portfolio monitoring.

Prior to joining Claridge, Ludovic worked in the investment banking department of CIBC where he provided financial and strategic advice to businesses and was involved in a broad range of transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, corporate sales and divestitures, and financings. He worked on mandates across diverse industries, including software, food, industrials, and services over the course of his tenure at CIBC

Ludovic previously worked at Deloitte Consulting where he completed a wide range of management consulting mandates, including strategic planning, market studies, corporate restructuring, commercial due diligence, business intelligence, regional economic development, and benchmarking studies. He started his career in the investment banking department of ING Group in Frankfurt.

He holds a Bachelor in Business Administration from HEC Montreal where he graduated with Distinction. He is a CFA charterholder and he also attended WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management in Germany.

Vice-President, Taxation

Julie joined Claridge at the end of 2017 as Vice President, Taxation.

She is responsible for the establishment and communication of fiscal strategies, risk assessment, compliance achievement and implementation of high standard tax corporate governance practices. Julie is also responsible for executing fiscal strategies to assist the principle and the senior management team in achieving their short and long-term financial and strategic objectives in terms of investment activities. Finally, Julie is responsible for personal tax planning, donation planning and compliance for the principal and the corporate and philanthropic entities.

Prior to joining Claridge, Julie was a tax partner at the PwC Montreal office. She led the High Net Worth tax practice. For more than 20 years, at PwC, Julie has advised family and private business owners on succession, estate and will planning, as well as corporate reorganizations. She has also advised senior executives of public corporations and wealthy individuals in their personal tax planning, tax compliance and tax compliance of the corporate entities.

Julie is a notary and holds a master’s degree in taxation from the University of Sherbrooke.