New FONDS-Soutien Bas-Saint-Laurent Created

$1.5 MILLION IN VENTURE CAPITAL FOR COMPANIES OF THE BAS-SAINT-LAURENT REGION

Mont-Joli, July 6, 2005 - The Minister of Economic Development, Innovation and Exports, Claude Béchard, with the MNA for Matane, Nancy Charest, announced the creation of the Fonds-Soutien Bas-Saint-Laurent, the first of its kind in Québec. "The capitalization of the Fonds-Soutien, which currently stands at $1.5 million, could reach $3 million by April 2006, with one third from public and private investors representing the regional business community," Mr. Béchard said.

The Fonds-Soutien, or support funds, under the aegis of the Conférences régionales des éluEs (CRÉ), supports the creation of business support funds.  It is one of the components of the Fonds d'intervention économique régional (FIER) designed to make more venture capital available as quickly as possible in every region of Québec to support the starting-up and development of businesses.  

In the support funds, the government has committed to providing two dollars for every dollar invested by regional players.  The funds will provide equity or quasi-equity capital up to $250 000 per company. "Implementation of the support funds will help generate up to $63 million in new investments, mainly in venture capital, to support the starting-up and development of businesses in every region of Québec," Minister Béchard noted.

"The participation of the Conférence régionale des éluEs (CRÉ) du Bas-Saint-Laurent and of investors of the region in the creation of this fund confirms that they are ready to play an active role in the development of businesses. That is precisely the spirit in which our government introduced the support funds," Ms. Charest added.

The new Fonds-Soutien will give priority to the economic diversification of the region in the production of value-added goods and services, in the forest and bio-food sectors.  It has been placed under the aegis of the CRÉ du Bas-Saint-Laurent, which has appointed the Société d'investissement et de développement forestier inc. (SIDFOR) to manage the new fund. Desjardins Capital de développement Bas-Saint-Laurent Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine and SIDFOR are the major investors in the fund.  The board of directors will be formed of representatives of the sponsors and one representative of the CRÉ.

"We are particularly pleased with this government announcement since it meets a frequently expressed need for a business start-up fund.  We thank SIDFOR for its involvement and we assure it of our full cooperation in solicitation efforts with partners to complete the regional participation of $1 million as quickly as possible," Michel Lagacé, President of the Conférence régionale des élus du Bas-Saint-Laurent, observed.

IQ-FIER, a new subsidiary of Investissement Québec, is playing an essential role in the implementation and administration of the FIERs. It is mandated to accredit each fund with an emphasis on governance and management mechanisms. IQ-FIER will also coordinate accountability of these organizations.

Minister Béchard thanked the partners who helped make this project a reality, namely the Société d'investissement et de développement forestier inc. (SIDFOR), Desjardins Capital de développement Bas-Saint-Laurent Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine and the Conférence régionale des éluEs du Bas-Saint-Laurent. "The Bas-Saint-Laurent region now has another financial tool for the development of businesses working in the secondary and tertiary processing of forest and bio-food products.  The participation of the partners of the Fonds-Soutien Bas-Saint-Laurent proves that the region is perfectly capable of doing what it takes to ensure its economic development and position itself in the global economy," Mr. Béchard concluded.

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Information:

Investissement Québec

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