The $1.5M transaction at Lion Electric is confusing

Lion Electric CEO Mark Bedard has caused some confusion in the stock markets in recent days, saying he controls a holding company … that he doesn’t own.

• Also Read: Quebecers loan more than $98M to Lion Electric

The company in question sold 500,000 Lion shares at $3 each last Wednesday, raising $1.5 million.

In the days after the transaction, the electric vehicle maker’s stock, which trades on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges, fell nearly 10%. On Tuesday, the stock closed at $2.75.

However, according to Lion, the shares sold did not belong to Mr Bedard, but to Camille Chartrand. The latter co-founded Lion in 2008 with former Autobus Corbeil manager, Marc Bedard.

Camille Chartrand

Photo taken from the SADC Achigan-Montcalm website

Retired

“He has been retired for many years and is not active in the company, but he is still a shareholder. He is over 70 now, so he has started making profit from his holdings,” said Tuesday. Newspaper Lion spokesman Patrick Gervais.

Mr. Mr. Chartrand’s shares Being in a numbered company controlled by Bédard, he had to “sign” to formalize the transaction, Mr. Gervais explained. This is a very unusual way of doing things for a company listed on a stock exchange.

“Everything was done in good and proper form […] And confirmed with lawyers,” he added.

According to him, Mr. Chartrand still owns an undetermined number of Lion shares.

On SEDI, the public system where insider transactions are made public, we read this description of the transaction: “Mr. Bédard has not sold any shares and will not receive any proceeds from the sale.

“The Last Thing He Wants To Do”

“Mr. Bédard, that’s the last thing he wants to do right now [vendre] Actions, I can tell you. On the contrary, he invested too much [dans Lion] He can take advantage of it. The company is doing well right now and we believe in it immensely,” supported Patrick Gervais.

At the close of the transaction, which was mentioned on QUB Radio’s airwaves on Tuesday, the number company controlled by Mark Bedard owned about 26 million Lion shares, or 11.5% of the total. By consulting the business register, Mr. Mr. We learn that Bédard has more than 50%.

Lion’s largest shareholder is Montreal Conglomerate Power Corporation, which owns 35% of the company.

Recall that in July, Investment Quebec (IQ), Fonds de Solidarité FTQ and Fondation CSN lent $98 million to Lion Electric.

IQ also holds 0.7% of the share capital of the company.

Finally, Quebec and Ottawa jointly granted $100 million in aid to Lion for the construction of a battery factory in Mirabel in 2021.