MONTREAL, May 30, 2018 /CNW/ - Over 250 invited guests were on hand at the closing ceremony of the twelfth edition of the Business Transfer Awards. Christiane Germain and Jean-Yves Germain, Co-Presidents of Groupe Germain Hotels, were the Honorary Presidents for the evening. The Awards are organized by PwC Canada and its partners to celebrate the achievements of Quebec businesses that have successfully navigated the succession process, thereby ensuring their long-term sustainability and growth.
"Initiatives like the Business Transfer Awards allow us to showcase the success stories," said Christiane Germain and Jean-Yves Germain. "There are several approaches to business transfer, so it is important to share good practices and the many ways that entrepreneurs can be encouraged to begin planning a succession. Congratulations to all of this year's winners. They are certainly a source of inspiration for the Quebec business community."
"Quebec has plenty of entrepreneurs who, sooner or later, will also need to think about planning their business transfer," said Martine Collins, Director, Private Company Services at PwC Canada. "The good news is that there are more and more of us mobilizing around business succession, providing access to many initiatives and programs for businesses. We need to keep talking about it! A contest like the Business Transfer Awards is a great way to generate discussion, celebrate these examples of successful transfers and encourage others to follow in their footsteps."
Six companies were honoured this year in two separate succession categories. They were presented by Martin Deschênes, Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of Deschenes Group Inc., and Serge Beauchemin, entrepreneur and investor.
Family Transfer category
Gold: Biron Groupe Santé
- Geneviève Biron, President and Chief Executive Officer
Founded by Denis Biron in 1952, Biron has taken a leadership position in Quebec's health sector. Biron initially built a reputation with its medical laboratory, which became known for the quality of its services, exemplary execution and quick access. In the years that followed, Biron diversified its service offering while continuing to maintain the same level of excellence. Throughout its growth, it remained a family business, one with a human dimension that was serious about its role in the community. Today Biron has 800 employees working at over 100 points of service across the province.
Silver: Infrastructel
- Étienne Rivard, Chief Executive Officer
Infrastructel is a consulting engineering company that was founded in 1997 by Robert Rivard. Over 20 years later, he handed management of the company down to his son, Etienne Rivard. Infrastructel has close to 170 employees and is one of Quebec's leading engineering firms. It provides engineering, inspection and project management services for underground public utility infrastructures, in the design of telecommunications and electricity networks, and in urban planning, design and development.
Bronze: Moderco
- Stephan Julien, President
Moderco is considered one of North America's leading manufacturers of acoustic operable partitions and associated products. For close to 40 years the company has been designing, manufacturing and selling movable partition systems through a worldwide network of trained distributors and partners.
Entrepreneurial Transfer category
Gold: lg2
- Claude Auchu, Partner, Executive Chairman and Head of Design
- Mathieu Roy, Partner, President – Montreal
- Mireille Côté, Partner, President – Quebec City
- Anne-Marie Leclair, Partner, Vice-President, Strategy and Innovation
- Pénélope Fournier, Partner, General Manager – Montreal
lg2 is the story of two entrepreneurs who wanted full control over their creative product. Sylvain Labarre (the "L") and Paul Gauthier (the "G"), who were quickly joined by Gilles Chouinard, built "a small agency with big ambitions." More than 25 years later, with 285 talented employees, thousands of awards and a record of creative output for some of the most innovative and well-known brands in the world, the agency has maintained the same level of creative agility. The boldness of the founders has been passed on to close to 20 new entrepreneurs, who work just as tirelessly to preserve the independence of the agency's business model.
Silver: Groupe Focus
- Stéphane Lemieux, President and Partner
- Anthony Simon, Vice-President and Partner
Groupe Focus is specialized in the distribution and installation of high-end office furniture and architectural solutions. It ensures that your work spaces live up to their full potential through strategic layouts and a proactive team of dependable and multi-talented experts. Their unrivaled sense of communication has underpinned the company's reputation for over 25 years. Located in Varennes and Boisbriand, Groupe Focus is constantly searching for the latest trends and future opportunities, which gives it a unique outlook on the world of office furniture.
Bronze: Congebec
- Nicholas P. Pedneault, President and Chief Executive Officer
Founded in Quebec City by Laurier Pedneault, MBA, Congebec is the largest refrigerated service provider in the province of Quebec. It is the industry leader in Canada and is ranked 15th in North America. With more than 400 employees, the company is the only one of its kind providing services in both Montreal and Quebec City. Its clients can count on 13 modern facilities, totaling more than 50 million cubic feet, in Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.
PwC Canada, along with its contest partners the Business Development Bank of Canada, National Bank, BCF Business Law, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, HEC Montréal, La Presse + and Toast Studio, would like to congratulate the winners of this twelfth edition of the contest. Please see www.lesmedaillesdelareleve.com/en/ for further details.
About PwC Canada
At PwC Canada, our purpose is to build trust in society and solve important problems. More than 6,700 partners and staff in offices across the country are committed to delivering quality in assurance, tax, consulting and deals services. PwC Canada is a member of the PwC network of firms with more than 236,235 people in 158 countries. Find out more by visiting us at www.pwc.com/ca.
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SOURCE PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers)
Claudia Landry, Public Relations Specialist, Eastern Canada, PwC Canada, Telephone: +1 514 205-5261, Email: [email protected]
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