Direction

Le conseil d’administration d’ACG Québec compte 18 membres exceptionnels dotés d’une solide expérience en matière de fusion et d’acquisition.

L'objectif du conseil d’administration est de partager les dernières tendances du marché au Québec pour moyennes entreprises et de concevoir des événements éducatifs qui créeront des occasions de réseautage, de négociation et de développement professionnel.

 

 

President
Luca Pasquale Giannini
Roynat Capital

Luca Pasquale Giannini started his career at the Business Development Bank of Canada (“BDC”), the biggest development bank in the world. While at BDC, Luca covered all aspects of due diligence for senior commercial lending. After 10 years at BDC, he joined Roynat Capital, the premier merchant bank for mid-market in Canada. At Roynat Capital, Luca covers the role of a merchant banker specialized in structuring and financing of M&A, Leverage buyouts (LBO), Management buyouts (MBO) and acquisitions of established operating companies through junior, senior lending and synthetic equity.

Luca earned a Master of Business Administration from John Molson School of Business (accredited AACSB) with concentration in Finance (Corporate Finance, Business Valuation and M&A) and International Business.

He also earned a Graduate Certificate in E-Business (1-year program). Acquired knowledge in applications of information technologies to e-business and the roles information technologies play in the integration of all business functions.

Previous education and residences in EU, Italy and Switzerland.

Language: English, French, Italian.

 

 

Founder & Managing Director
Pamela Miranda
MiiCap

 

 

Marie-Claude Boisvert
Sagard Private Equity Canada

Marie-Claude Boisvert serves as Partner, Head of Private Equity Canada at Sagard since joining in 2021 to launch the strategy. Marie-Claude oversees fundraising, originating, investing, and portfolio companies management across all sectors. She is a member of the Sagard Private Equity Canada investment committee and is based in Montreal.

Prior to Sagard, Marie-Claude was Partner at Clearspring Capital Partners and Managing Partner at Kilmer Capital Partners where she was involved in all aspects of the funds’ operations and was responsible for investment activities in Quebec. Marie-Claude previously held the positions of CFO and interim COO in two private-equity owned portfolio companies. In addition, her experience includes investment banking in London with Goldman Sachs, as well as corporate finance with KPMG in Montreal.

She held board of directors positions with Atelka Entreprise, Altasciences, Coalision, Demers Braun Ambulances, Regal Confections and currently Chairs the board of Voyages Traditours, and observer to Telecon.

Marie-Claude is a Governor of Réseau Capital and board member of ACG Québec. She also sits on the Board of Directors of Fondation Lise Watier and is a co-founder of Elle-Invest.

Marie-Claude holds a B.Comm. from HEC Montreal and an MBA from INSEAD. She is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CA).

 

 

Antoine Casimire
Novacap

Antoine Casimir is a Principal at Novacap and directly leads portfolio company investments as well as their growth plan. Antoine is a board member of Noble Foods Nutrition Inc, a leading manufacturer of nutritional and energy bars. Antoine is a board member of Mucci Farms, a leading grower and marketer of greenhouse produce. Antoine is a board member at the GTI Group, a leading specialized transportation and freight forwarding provider. Antoine is an observer on the board for Nautilus Plus, a leading chain of fitness clubs in Quebec. Antoine holds a BComm from the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University. He is a Certified Management Accountant (CMA) a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) and is a Chartered Business Valuator (CBV).

 

 

René Cormier
KPMG

René Cormier is a Vice President in the Deal Advisory group, contributing directly to the Corporate Finance practice in Quebec. As a former partner at an independent investment bank, René has accumulated a wealth of experience after more than 15 years of working in mergers, acquisitions and financing. René’s past work includes mandates with clients in several industries including professional services, consumer products, retail and distribution, industrial products, automotive parts and technology.

René began his career at Goulet Cormier & Associates, a privately held mid-market investment bank in which he was a partner. He holds a BA in Business Finance from University of Moncton and is a Chartered Business Valuator (CBV). René sits on the board of the Young Canadians in Finance.

 

 

Adrianna Czornyj
Persistence Capital Partners

Adrianna joined Persistence Capital in 2015 and is currently responsible for all aspects of the investment process from sourcing, evaluating and executing on investment opportunities to managing existing investments. She has over fifteen years of experience in M&A, audit, consulting, valuation and private equity. Before joining PCP, Adrianna was a Partner in Deloitte’s M&A transaction services practice, where she served private equity and strategic corporate investors, with a particular industry focus on healthcare and retail.

Adrianna began her career in audit at BDO Dunwoody LLP, and holds a HBBA in Business Administration & Accounting from Wilfrid Laurier University. She is a Chartered Professional Accountant and a Chartered Business Valuator. Adrianna was the past Chair of the Canadian Women in Private Equity and continues to serve on the executive committee.  She is also an active member of ACG Toronto and serves on the Board.

 

 

Guillaume De Tilly-Dion
RBC

Guillaume is currently focusing his expertise as Senior Account Manager in the Knowledge-Based Industry Group at Royal Bank of Canada. He’s been involved for over a decade in monitoring and supporting the Tech Ecosystem.

Guillaume is valued in the industry for supporting many start-ups from their early stages to transforming them into full-fledged public companies. His expertise can help a company scale from zero to IPO, and he’s also fostered the commercial relationships of several venture capital funds. Guillaume’s involvement also includes M&A transactions, SaaS lines of credit and short-term financing.

He also gained valuable knowledge from his experience working at the Société de Développement Economique Ville-Marie, where he weighed the success of early-stage companies for the purpose of providing grants/loans and growth mentoring to key players.

Guillaume’s background as an Economist from l’École des Sciences de la Gestion led to his start at Desjardins, where he performed real estate financing and commercial banking.

 

 

Éric Doyon
Walter Capital Partners

Éric Doyon joined Walter Capital Partners (“WCP”) as managing partner in 2019. With over 25 years of experience leading small and medium-sized businesses as a senior executive, private equity investor, and investment banker, he is passionate about helping companies grow, and collaborating with entrepreneurs to create long-term value. Mr. Doyon brings to the WCP team not only expertise in private equity, management and strategic planning, but also an extensive business network to help establish partnerships with promising companies and support their growth.

Before joining WCP, Mr. Doyon has been managing partner of Entrepreneur Capital, a private equity firm that he co-founded in 2013, which specializes in the buyout of controlling equity positions in medium-sized businesses. Mr. Doyon helped steer a dozen transactions, including purchases, sales and recapitalization of companies, with an aggregate value over $300 million.

Mr. Doyon was senior vice-president and chief financial officer at Coalision, and at Europe’s Best. Prior to these leadership roles, he helped guide entrepreneurs through critical transactions for PwC Corporate Finance. Mr. Doyon began his career at Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec’s private equity group, first as an analyst and then as a portfolio manager, where he structured and closed many private equity investments with medium-sized businesses.

Mr. Doyon holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from HEC Montréal, and has served on many boards of directors throughout his career – and continues to do so to ensure companies can realize their objectives.

 

 

Mina Farinacci
BDO

Mina was appointed Office Managing Partner (“OMP”) for Québec in January 2017. After gaining experience in the real estate industry, she joined BDO’s Montréal assurance and accounting team in 1996 and was appointed partner in 2008. Mina is also the manufacturing industry team leader for the Montréal office. Her clientele operates in a variety of industries, namely financial services, manufacturing, agribusiness, real estate, construction and technology. She also works closely with First Nations communities and organizations for which she performs audit mandates.

As OMP, she focuses on BDO’s growth across the province, and sees that the firm continues to retain a strong client satisfaction level, while sparking new ideas and innovative client solutions. Her goal is to provide a five-star service to all of her clients.

An accomplished professional and recognized as such by her peers, Mina is a compassionate and articulate woman who touches others with her sense of perspective, integrity and dynamism. With her proactive leadership and innovative vision, she is not afraid to challenge established models and take risks.

Mina is highly involved in the community and currently serves on the Finance Committee of the Alzheimer Society of Canada.

 

 

François Fauteux
Phoenix Partners

François is founder and Managing Partner at Phoenix Partners.  Prior to establishing Phoenix Partners, François led the private equity team in Eastern Canada at a Bank-owned private equity group for over 10 years. Prior to that, he excelled for a decade as an investment banker. While in private equity, François led or participated in a dozen acquisitions valued in excess of $300M.

François is a Director of RefPlus Inc and Les Industries Bernard & Fils Ltée as well Chairman of CRH Oral Design Inc. François holds an MBA from McGill University and an undergraduate degree in finance from HEC Montréal.

 

 

Catherine Fisette
NORCAP Global Partners

Catherine is a Managing Partner at NORCAP Global Partners, a privately held Canadian investment banking boutique specializing in cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A). At NORCAP, Catherine leads business development & deal origination for the strategic partnerships and acquisitions mandates. 

Catherine began her career with a Quebec-based industry-leading retailer and manufacturer where she worked her way up to a senior executive leadership role. With over 15 years of experience in various management positions, Catherine has a strong track record of results demonstrating natural leadership through performance optimization.

Prior to joining NORCAP, Catherine worked as an M&A advisor for several years within the lower-middle market segment. She also served as the president of the young professional in mergers and acquisitions (YPMA) as well as the co-president of one of M&A Club’s Chapters.

As a board member of the Quebec ACG Chapter, Catherine promotes and facilitates the US-Canada business relationships.

 

 

Philippe Frundjian
CIBC

Philippe heads the Québec mid-market investment banking practice at CIBC where he is responsible to source and and execute divestiture, acquisition and private placement mandates. Over the last 20 years, he has advised on numerous mid-market M&A and corporate finance transactions on Canadian and cross-border transactions across a wide range of industries.

Prior to joining CIBC, Philippe was a research assistant at a leading independent economic publication firm where he was responsible for providing macroeconomic research on the G-10 countries.

Philippe has a Bachelor of Commerce degree with distinction from Concordia University and is a CFA charter holder. Fluent in four languages, Philippe speaks English, French, Spanish and Armenian.

Specialties: Mergers & Acquisitions, Capital Raises and Strategic Advisory for mid-market businesses

Geographic Focus: Québec, Ottawa and Atlantic Canada

 

 

Maxime Girard
Desjardins Capital

Maxime is now an investor for one of Canada’s largest financial institution, where he is responsible for early stage strategic investments in financial technology companies.  Prior to this role, Maxime has been an investor in later stage growing technology companies.  He also worked as a financial advisor on divestitures, acquisition and other strategic questions. He started his M&A career with one of Canada’s largest strategic investor, responsible for all international M&A strategic investments.  He also has operational experience, having started his career with a global insurance company.  Maxime has been involved in the financial service industry for over a decade.

Maxime earned an MBA from the Rotman School of Business at the University of Toronto in 2018 and he is a CFA charter holder.  He also previously completed a bachelor’s degree from Université Laval.

 

 

Keith Hanna
McMillan LLP

Keith is an associate in the Financial Services Group, working with financial institutions and corporations on corporate funding matters. Keith supports his clients in producing and negotiating notably loan offers, credit arrangements, financing documents, intercreditor agreements, securities, shareholder agreements.

Prior to joining McMillan, Keith worked at an international law firm and as an in-house counsel in a financial institution. Keith has been advising and acting on transactions related to corporate funding, equity investment, aircraft financing, bankruptcy and insolvency, as well as international matters.

Keith has represented financial institutions and corporations in various industries, including aviation, manufacturing, video games, energy, mining and pulp and paper.

 

 

Rita Kasparian
BDC Capital

Rita Kasparian is a Director, Growth & Transition Capital at BDC Capital in the Montreal group. A BDC veteran since 2001, Rita has helped many small and medium-sized businesses with financial solutions that are customized to their needs. She has extensive experience in the manufacturing sector and in the management of non-profit organizations. Dedicated to helping companies realize their full potential, Rita’s goal is to provide first class service to her clients and to do what it takes to help them reach the next level. She has joined the BDC Capital team in 2014 and has been active in the M&A market of the greater Montreal area servicing the mid-market companies of all industries.

 

 

Sean McKinnon
Novacap

 

 

 

Joanna Myszka
Blakes

Joanna focuses primarily on domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, share and asset sale transactions, and general corporate matters. She takes part in several aspects of managing the M&A process, from due diligence to transaction closing, including drafting and negotiating the purchase agreement and other transaction documents.

In addition, Joanna advises companies on a wide range of commercial transactions involving information technology and intellectual property, including relating to the acquisition, licensing, development and disposition of intellectual property assets. She assists companies in the drafting and negotiating of license agreements, development agreements, implementation agreements and other technology-related agreements.

Joanna also has an active life sciences practice and has worked for some of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies on a wide array of operational matters, including the drafting and negotiation of clinical trial agreements, product listing agreements and consulting and advisory board agreements as well as the establishment of patient support programs, among others.

 

 

Mark Rossi
Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton

Mark Rossi is a Partner at Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton and leads the Corporate Finance | Mergers & Acquisitions group as well as the Private Equity and Sponsor Coverage initiative.

With over 18 years of experience as a Banker, in numerous senior roles with various leading financial institutions, Mark has acquired substantial knowledge of financing services and gained broad experience in almost all industry
sectors including Business Services, Manufacturing, Retail, Food Processing, and Construction.

Prior to joining RCGT, Mark was the Managing Director & Regional Market Leader of the Private Equity & Sponsor Coverage group for Bank of Montreal’s Corporate Finance Division, where he was responsible for overseeing a
$2 billion debt portfolio and was involved in numerous transactions involving mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buy-outs, expansions, dividend recaps, leveraged transactions, Private Equity sponsored transactions, and syndicated deals. Mark also spent ten years at the National Bank of Canada where he held several roles including Associate Vice-President, Commercial Banking. In addition, he also spent three years with TD Bank’s retail banking operations and three years as an entrepreneur.

Mark has an extensive network both in Canada and in the US. His involvement in several complex transactions and access to Banks, Private Equity Funds, Labor Sponsored Funds and Family Offices allows his clients access to the best of bank financing, debt capital markets, M&A, sub-debt, equity and other more complex investment structures.

Mark is known for building solid relationships with his clients and has built a strong reputation in the industry given his work ethic, integrity and persistence.

 

 

Walid Safi
E&Y

Walid is a Partner and Senior Vice President in Ernst & Young’s Corporate Finance practice. He provides a range of transaction advisory services relating to mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, corporate finance, restructuring and joint ventures to established and entrepreneurial growth companies, private and public.

Walid has over 19 years of professional experience in finance, including 14 years in Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity.

He previously served as a Partner at Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton where he led the Mergers & Acquisition team as well as a Managing Director at BMO Capital Partners, Bank of Montreal’s private equity and merchant banking arm, where he led all aspects of junior debt financing and equity investments, including deal origination, structuring, due diligence and legal documentation.

Walid earned a Master in Business Administration degree from HEC Montreal, a Bachelor of Arts (Economics) degree from Concordia University and a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance) degree from McGill University.

 

 

Marc Yedid
Richter

Marc is a partner in Richter’s transaction advisory practice, with over 20 years of financial advisory, M&A and consulting experience. Marc is often called upon to lead transaction advisory engagements both in the United States and Canada on behalf of companies, entrepreneurs, private equity firms and financial institutions.

Marc is relied upon as a key member of the transaction team in providing strategic M&A advisory, assessing Quality of Earnings, negotiating terms of an agreement, and providing vendor support in the context of a sale. Regardless of the complexity of the project or transaction, Marc is called upon for his strategic perspective and creative approach, as well as his ability to analyze a situation from all sides.

Marc is a Chartered Professional Accountant and a member of Richter’s Board or directors. He is also a board member of Federation CJA and a graduate of the Wexner Heritage Program.