The Quebec engineering firm FNX-Innov is acquired by the French company Artelia to make it its new subsidiary for expansion into the North American market.

With this transaction concluded Thursday between the managers and shareholders of FNX-Innov and the management of Artelia, the Quebec firm which has grown a lot since its takeover in 2018 of the assets of the deposed Groupe SM thus joins a major engineering company which operates in Europe, North Africa and Asia.

However, Artelia was still largely absent from the Americas, a shortcoming it intends to remedy through its acquisition of FNX-Innov.

For the latter, moreover, the acquisition by Artelia is the successful outcome of a process initiated in the fall of 2022 to find new shareholders capable of supporting the next phase of FNX-Innov’s business plan.

“With the business maturity acquired over the past five years, as the businesses taken over from SM Group recovered and the growth achieved thereafter, we were at a crossroads,” said Richard Hélie, CEO of FNX-Innov, during an interview with La Presse.

“Shareholders and managers felt they had done their job of turning around and revitalizing the activities taken over from SM in 2018.”

By becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of Artelia, FNX-Innov will serve as the first business platform in North America for an engineering company with a total workforce of nearly 8,400 employees, and consolidated sales of $1.3 billion order.

“By joining forces with FNX-Innov, we are multiplying our expertise, we are diversifying our service offer, we are expanding our customer base and we are accelerating our international development,” said Benoît Clocheret, Executive Chairman of Artelia, in a written communication sent to The Press.

However, in response to a question from La Presse, Richard Hélie indicates the acquisition transaction is settled “in cash” between Artelia and the shareholders-managers of FNX-Innov.

Also, the latter plan to remain in post as senior managers at FNX-Innov after its establishment as a 100% subsidiary at Artelia.

“By joining Artelia, FNX-Innov will be able to accelerate its development and continue to think bigger,” says Richard Hélie.

“For our employees, it is also an opportunity to build a motivating career path and to open up to other horizons. A new adventure begins and we are proud and confident about the future! »

Activity: engineering firm

Headquarters: Montreal

Workforce: 1100 employees in 18 offices in Eastern Canada

Turnover: almost 150 million

Key Executives: Richard Élie (Chief Executive Officer), Pierre-Yves Méthot (Treasurer and Head of the Executive Committee), François Gaudreau (Administrator)

Activity: engineering firm

Headquarters: Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine (suburb of Paris)

Workforce: 7,300 employees across Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific

Turnover: 833 million euros (1.2 billion CAN)

Ownership: 100% among its officers and key employees