THE SPARK OF AN IDEA
Hydro- Québec eyes foreign markets
Hydro- Québec would consider foreign acquisitions and believes it would be a good opportunity for growth in the coming years, in the same way that exporting electricity would be.
The president of the provincial utility, Éric Martel, let the plans be known in front of the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal on Thursday and with a media briefing that followed the event.
“I think we are realizing ... that there would be a value in exporting our expertise, to have assets outside Quebec, too, and assets that will increase in value over time,” Martel said. “We are in a situation where the world of energy ( compa- nies) is in upheaval and that gives us the chance to have some opportunities.”
He shared Hydro- Québec’s longterm plans, up to 2030.
“We have an objective. We have as mission, in our strategic plan, to establish a base to be able to double our revenues, the size of Hydro- Québec in the next 15 years. Today, we are a company of about $ 13.5 billion, roughly. We want to grow our revenue and be capable of becoming a company of $ 27 billion and more,” Martel said.
He says that when he took over Hydro- Québec seven months ago, he created a group for mergers and acquisitions to handle those files.
“The fact that we raised our hand to say we wanted back in the foreign market gives lots of enthusiasm to certain players. We have people who are heavily solicited. Every week, I sit down with the team to review the portfolio of projects and we have things that are advancing well,” Martel said.
Martel said Hydro is particularly interested in infrastructure and companies that produce electricity and transportation networks in the Americas and “a little bit in Europe.”
He said that the utility was only looking at places with stable politics and an ethical business culture.
Exporting electricity remains
a priority in terms of increasing Hydro- Québec’s profitability, Martel said. He reiterated his interest in the United States, notably from New England to Rhode Island, New York state, and also the Maritimes and Ontario.
“The idea is to increase the benefit for Quebec, to enrich Hydro-Québec and Quebec at the same time, without having to increase rates too much. So this will help meet our engagement of maintaining rate increase to the cost of inflation, or less,” Martel said.