Caisse will have to put $257 million back into Alstom

Alstom's financial troubles cost the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec dearly: the company had to return $257 million to the French company to get out of it.

• Also Read: A financial summit between Francois Legault, Gabriel Attal and the CEOs of Quebec Inc.

• Also Read: France benefited more from free trade than Quebec

• Also Read: Four breakdowns in four days: REM must improve, Quebec warns

The reinvestment is part of a 1 billion euro (C$1.48 billion) share issue the railway equipment giant announced on Wednesday.

Holder of 17.4% of Alstom shares, the Caisse will participate in the operation in proportion to its stake in the company, meaning it will have to re-inject 174 million euros (CA$257 million).

“This is an important asset for the fund and with the intention of subscribing to this financing, we are playing our role as a long-term shareholder,” explained Jean-Benoit Houde, the company's spokesperson.

“Alstom today has the highest order book in its history at 92 billion euros and continues to win profitable new orders,” he added.

Invest in free fall

At the end of January 2021, Kaisse Alstom invested about $4.5 billion to join forces with Bombardier Transportation. This investment today is only 1.7 billion dollars.

To get back on track, Alstom also announced asset sales worth 700 million euros, a hybrid bond issue of 750 million euros and the suspension of its dividend.

In the fiscal year ended March 31, Alstom posted a net loss of 309 million euros on revenue of 17.6 billion euros.