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SGF invests $3 million in Telops inc.
Saint-Augustin, September 26, 2001 – Mr. Gilles Baril, minister of State for the Regions and minister of Industry and Commerce, Claude Blanchet, chairman of the board, president and CEO of the Société générale de financement du Québec (SGF) and Jean Giroux, CEO of Telops, announced today, in the presence of Mr. Régis Labeaume, official representative – Québec – Optics City, that SGF Tech inc. has invested $3 million in the company’s share capital. This investment will allow Telops to accelerate its expansion by marketing integrated opto‑electronics products and systems to the telecommunications industry.
“Québec has one of the highest concentration of research and development (R&D) here and elsewhere and benefits from a large expertise with performing companies like Telops inc.”, said Mr. Baril. The partnership with Société générale de financement strengthens this pole of world‑scale excellence in optics, added the minister. The Québec government intends to support the creativity and quality of a project like Telops inc. that aims, among other goals, to rapidly penetrate the world market, concluded Mr. Baril.”
Claude Blanchet echoed his enthusiasm, saying, “Telops has a broad range of high‑caliber expertise that shows great promise in pursuing projects that will lead to high future growth. SGF Tech will be able to contribute to that growth not only through an injection of capital but also by providing a link to our network of contacts. We also believe that, in the mid-term, the investment and economic development potential of Telops will be very important to the Québec region.”
Jean Giroux is very pleased with the confidence SGF Tech has shown in the company. “SGF Tech’s financial support will be used to set up physical infrastructures, to purchase production equipment and to create two product lines: testing equipment for specification, certification and accelerated aging, and integrated opto-electronics command and control modules and cards,” he explained.
Telops Inc. specializes in the design and production of sophisticated opto‑electronics systems for the telecommunications, defense and space sectors (www.telops.ca).
SGF Tech is a subsidiary of the Société générale de financement du Québec whose mission is to carry out economic development projects meeting normal profitability requirements, in collaboration with business partners. Since it was restructured in 1998, SGF has generated investments of about $4.4 billion, creating over 19,400 direct and indirect jobs in the operating phase, not counting the thousands of jobs created during the construction phase. As at December 31, 2000, SGF’s consolidated assets totalled $2.3 billion. SGF has 53 international partners operating in Québec. (sgfqc.com)
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Information:
Sylvie Brousseau
Director of Communications
SGF
Nadine Bernard
Responsable des communications
Telops inc.
local 431
Anne-Marie Laurin
Press Attaché
MIC
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