Stephen Bronfman Executive Chairman |
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Pierre Boivin, O.C., C.Q. President and Chief Executive Officer |
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Murielle Lortie, CPA, CA Chief Financial Officer |
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Frederic Martel, MBA, P. Eng. Chief Investment Officer |
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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 375th 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.
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- 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.
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- Strategic Vision
- Marketing & Branding
- Consumer Products
- Media & Communications
- Entertainment
- Real Estate
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President and Chief Executive Officer
Pierre Boivin, O.C., C.Q.
Pierre is a proven corporate leader. He joined Claridge in 2011, and he oversees the team of professionals who are responsible to optimize the firm's investment portfolio. He plays a lead role in its acquisitions, and furthering Claridge’s position as a significant player in the mid-market private equity sector in North America. Pierre has a solid track record in building executive teams, creating significant shareholder value and executing successful exit strategies.
From 1999 to 2011, he was President and CEO of the Montreal Canadiens and evenko. During his tenure, the organization was completely transformed and notwithstanding going through two changes in ownership, generated annualized returns of 15%.
In 1994, he was appointed President and CEO of Canstar Sports Inc., a Montreal-based public company and the world leader in the hockey equipment industry. Canstar was acquired by Nike Inc. in 1995 at a 50% premium and Pierre became President and CEO of Bauer Nike Hockey until 1999.
Pierre was appointed President and CEO of Los Angeles-based Weider Sporting Goods Inc. in 1993. Following a comprehensive turn-around, the company was sold to ProForm in 1994.
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In 1979, Pierre founded Norvinca Inc., a company that became in a few years the largest sporting goods distributor in Canada. He was CEO of the company until it was acquired by the Benetton Sports Group in 1992.
In addition to the board of Claridge, Pierre is a member of the board of National Bank of Canada, Groupe CH, and he is Chairman of Metro Inc. and of Solotech Inc.
He has always been very engaged in the community. Pierre is a former Chairman of Quebec Special Olympics and board member of Special Olympics Canada. He was Chairman of the Board of CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation from 2006 to 2012. He is currently the Chairman of the Board of the Montreal Canadiens Children’s Foundation, which he founded in 2000.
Moreover, since 2017, Pierre has been highly active in the development of the AI ecosystems in Québec and Canada. He is Chairman of Mila – Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute, Chairman of the board of Forum AI Quebec and serves on the Canadian AI Advisory Council.
In 2009, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada and received an honorary Ph.D. from the Université de Montréal. In 2015, the business newspaper Les Affaires named him the most socially engaged business leader, and he became a Knight of l’Ordre national du Québec in 2017.
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- Global Growth
- Operations
- Turnaround
- Media & Communications
- Sports & Leisure
- Retail
- Financial Institutions
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Chief Financial Officer
Murielle Lortie, CPA, CA
Murielle joined Claridge in 2021. She is responsible for supervising a team of over 20 staff in areas of Finance, Tax, Legal, IT & HR. She is actively involved in M&A and divestiture related activity including due diligence, amalgamation and restructuring activities as well as post-closing financing and development. Murielle is also involved in corporate governance and is a member of several boards and audit committees of our direct investments.
Prior to joining Claridge, Murielle served as CFO at Liminal BioSciences, and Pharmascience. She also held several finance-related positions at Bristol-Myers Squibb Canada, Lafarge North America, and Arthur Andersen. She is a Board member & Audit Chair of Profound Medical Inc. (NASDAQ & TSX) and serves on several portfolio companies Boards and Audit Committees. She also is on the Board of Finance Executives International (FEI) Canada, FEI Quebec, and Bishop’s University.
Murielle attended both Bishop’s University (Bachelor of Business Administration) and Concordia University (Graduate Diploma of Accountancy).
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- Chartered Professional Accountant
- Mergers & Acquisitions
- Due Diligence
- Business Integration
- Corporate Governance
- Risk Management
- Operational Efficiencies
- Strategy
- Manufacturing
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Chief Investment Officer
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.
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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.
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- Mergers & Acquisitions
- Investment Management
- Capital Markets
- Private Equity
- Hedge Funds
- Renewable Energy
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Ludovic Dumas, CFA Vice President - Direct Investments |
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Julie Doyon, M.FISC. Vice-President, Taxation |
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Vice President - Direct Investments
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
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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.
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- Management Consulting
- Corporate Strategy
- Financial Analysis
- Mergers & Acquisitions
- Capital Raise
- Private Equity
- Technology
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Vice-President, Taxation
Julie Doyon
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 holds a master's degree in taxation from the University of Sherbrooke.
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- Tax governance
- Tax risks management
- Tax and donation planning
- Estate and will planning
- Tax compliance
- Structuring acquisition of investments
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