COMPANY TRANSFER IS ALWAYS IMPORTANT. BUT NOW IT’S OF STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE.

the Le Centre de transfert d’entreprise du Québec (CTEQ), an agency that helps match buyers with sellers.

Carlos Leitão, the provincial finance minister, says the demographic trend, if unchecked, could lead to a sustained decline in Quebec’s productive capacity and a repeat of the 2009 recession, which saw a “brutal drop” in exports and many bankrupt companies.

“The issue of company transfer is always important,” Leitão says. “But now, in 2017, 2018, 2019, it’s becoming one of strategic importance.”

The task is monumental. Most Quebec small business owners end up leaving money on the table because they’re more concerned with getting a good cultural fit, rather than maximizing value, says Richard Quinn, who oversees a company transfers team at Desjardins. “Preparing a successful company transfer Maxime Paulhus Gosselin, who joined his family’s cheese-import business near Montreal in 2010, thinking he would eventually take over. But when tensions with his parents flared, the company was sold to outsiders five years later.

Paulhus Gosselin channelled that painful experience into creating JOII, an online service that lets company owners and potential buyers compare plans and avoid future conflicts. GSOFT, a Montreal-based software maker, just took a stake in JOII, proving the looming succession crunch is also a business opportunity.

That’s certainly how the Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec sees it. Canada’s second-largest public pension fund manager recently unveiled a plan to invest $250 million in mid-size companies that are planning a transfer. It also joined forces with the