(Bloomberg) -- Canadian pension fund Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec and its partners have hired advisers to explore options for McInnis Cement, according to people familiar with the matter.
The investors are considering options for the cement maker that could include bringing in new partners or an outright sale of the company, the people said, asking not to be identified as the details aren't public. No final decisions have been made and the group may choose to keep McInnis Cement, they said.
In 2014, the Caisse partnered with Beaudier Group, an investment vehicle for the founding family of Bombardier Inc., to develop the cement maker's facilities in Port-Daniels-Gascons, Quebec. The project was originally expected to cost about C$1.1 billion ($880 million) to develop but final costs rose to about C$1.5 billion, one of the people said.
Two years later, the Caisse, Canada's second-largest pension fund, took control of the project and invested an additional C$125 million alongside the same amount from funds managed by BlackRock Alternative Investors.
Representatives for the Montreal-based Caisse and McInnis Cement declined to comment. A representative for Beaudier Group didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
The McInnis Cement project was the first new cement plant to serve eastern Canada and New England in more than 50 years when it opened last year, according to the Caisse's website. It has a deep-water marine terminal next to the plant, and operates its own distribution network of terminals in the U.S. and Canada.
To contact the reporters on this story: Aaron Kirchfeld in London at akirchfeld@bloomberg.net, Scott Deveau in Toronto at sdeveau2@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Elizabeth Fournier at efournier5@bloomberg.net, Michael Hytha
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