CDPQ invests $158 million in WSP to fund Power Engineers acquisition

CDPQ, Quebec’s largest institutional investor, has made a $158 million investment in WSP, a Montreal-based engineering consultancy, to help fund its $2.4 billion acquisition of US-based Power Engineers.

The deal, which was announced on Monday, will see WSP expand its power and energy (P&E) sector services and add approximately 4,000 employees across 45+ offices in the US and Canada.

“Through this investment, CDPQ is reaffirming its long-standing commitment to WSP, allowing the company to carve out an influential position in the global power & energy industry and contribute to the transition under way," said Kim Thomassin, EVP and head of Quebec at CDPQ. "It's in line with our strategy to support the international expansion of companies solidly anchored in Québec and to foster their sustainable growth."

CDPQ’s investment is its eighth in WSP since becoming a shareholder in 2011.

In May, the institutional investor sold 2,884,615 common shares of WSP Global, worth approximately $600 million, as part of a periodic portfolio rebalancing. Following the transaction, CDPQ held approximately 15.8% of issued and outstanding common shares of WSP.

CDPQ manages several public and parapublic pension plans and insurance programs in Quebec. Its net assets totaled $452 billion as June 30, 2024 – with a return of 4.2% in the first half of 2024, an annualized return of 6.0% over five years, and an annualized return of 7.1% over 10 years.

CDPQ remit includes investing in Quebec companies and infrastructure projects to stimulate the province’s economy. Aside from its WSP investments, the crown corporation also this year invested $125 million in IT consultancy Levio to help drive its acquisition strategy.