BDC and CDP Provide New Mezzanine Financing

On October 9, 2003, Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDP) agreed to provide mezzanine financing, through a limited partnership, AlterInvest Fund LP, managed by BDC. BDC and CDP will contribute up to $300 million over a three-year period to finance small- to medium-sized companies across Canada in amounts ranging from $250,000 to $10 million per investment. Concurrently, BDC acquired a 50 per cent interest in a portfolio of existing investments held by AlterInvest Investment Fund Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of CDP prior to closing.

BDC was represented by in-house counsel François Rivest; and by Stikeman Elliott LLP, with a team that included André Roy, Franziska Ruf, Luc Bernier, France Margaret Bélanger and Pascal Hurtubise. CDP was represented in-house by Claude Bergeron, vice-president, legal; and Bruno-Étienne Duguay, counsel; and by Ogilvy Renault, with a team that included Jean-Pierre Colpron,François Courteau, Natalie Brown, George Zevgolis, Serge Levy and Claude Baril.