Caisse head supportive of businesses driven to use dual-class shares

Michael Sabia, CEO of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, speaks in Toronto on Tuesday. (CHRIS HELGREN/REUTERS)

June 14 2016
Janet McFarland, The Globe and Mail

Companies listing on stock markets for the first time are increasingly driven to use unequal voting shares because investors are making it hard for entrepreneurs to grow a new business without fear of takeover, said Quebec pension fund head Michael Sabia.

Mr. Sabia, chief executive officer of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, told a Toronto audience Tuesday that he has grown increasingly sympathetic toward companies that use dual-class shares appropriately because markets are becoming more impatient and more short-term oriented.