Samuel Bruneau, CEO & co-Founder of Taiga Motors, rides the company's electric snowmobile outside their Montreal office on Feb. 17, 2021.Christinne Muschi/The Globe and Mail
A British electric boat entrepreneur has won control of Canada’s Taiga Motors Corp., as the maker of electric off-road vehicles steers out of bankruptcy protection with new hopes for a fresh start.
Stewart Wilkinson, whose family office is behind a group of marine electrification brands including Vita, Envoy and Aqua superPower, won approval from Quebec Superior Court for the purchase, Taiga TAIG-T said in a statement late Thursday.
Financial terms of the transaction are confidential, the company said. But it said the buyer has agreed to provide working capital funding for Taiga’s business plan as well as assume and guarantee Taiga’s debt to Export Development Canada, the Montreal-based manufacturer’s most senior secured lender.
“This business combination now gives us the scale and resources needed to deliver on our vision,” Taiga chief executive and co-founder Samuel Bruneau said in the statement. “By combining Taiga’s technology and mass production expertise with the group’s leading position in marine electrification, we will achieve greater economies of scale to deliver high-performance products at compelling prices to accelerate the electric transition.”
Mr. Wilkinson commended Mr. Bruneau and his team for building “great products and technology in challenging financial markets” as they work toward greater mass market adoption. “The world urgently needs low-carbon solutions for all forms of mobility,” he said. “This transaction will allow us to continue building the best technology, team and products to propel the industry forward.”
Taiga won bankruptcy protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act in July after running out of money in its bid to scale up production. The company had been slashing costs to survive and hunting for various options to fund its operations, but concluded a filing was the best path forward to find new backers.
Mr. Bruneau launched the company with two McGill University engineering classmates in 2015 with big ambitions, aiming to revolutionize the powersports industry by bringing an environmental sensibility to a sector historically hooked on loud revving engines. It makes two electric vehicles: A snowmobile called the Nomad and a personal watercraft called Orca.
The company is one of Quebec’s homegrown hopefuls for the EV age, but it struggled to scale up production, experiencing numerous challenges including what it has said was a failure by certain suppliers to deliver on contracts.
Public money from both the Canadian and Quebec governments was at risk in the outcome of the CCAA process. EDC had, before the July bankruptcy filing, offered roughly $20-million in loans to Taiga – at least some of which had been drawn down. Meanwhile, Investment Quebec held an $18.3-million debenture in the company.
Taiga’s biggest shareholder as of May was Northern Private Capital, a Toronto-based investment firm led by John Risley and Andrew Lapham. Northern is losing its shares with the bankruptcy restructuring, Taiga spokeswoman Chloe Beaulieu said.