Quality and compliance solutions provider QIMA has a new investor. Canada-based investment firm Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) has acquired a minority interest in the company, investing about $250 million into QIMA. With this transaction, the compliance company’s founder and CEO Sebastien Breteau and QIMA management are retaining their majority ownership.
CDPQ purchased the stake from Navis Capital Partners, and the deal is subject to regulatory approvals. While QIMA wouldn’t comment on the percent of the stake, Breteau called it a “significant minority interest.”
“CDPQ brings a long-term partnership vision, top-tier funding capabilities and a well-established global footprint with a strong position in North America, which is a priority market for QIMA,” Breteau told Sourcing Journal.
With this new backing, QIMA has plans to further its global expansion, sector coverage and acquisitions. The company currently operates in the consumer goods, food and life sciences categories, with about 15,000 clients across 120 countries. And QIMA operates in 88 different nations with 4,000 global employees.
In 2020, QIMA acquired Mexican standardization and certification organization Normalización y Certificación NYCE, growing its Latin American footprint. The company also recently opened a testing laboratory in Vietnam.
Along with expanding its global presence, QIMA says the investment from CDPQ will aid its efforts in technology. Last year, QIMA introduced QIMAone, a platform that digitizes quality management, enabling the collection and analysis of data to make the process more proactive and collaborative.
“We have the capability for data collection onsite throughout the supply chain, and the ability to turn that data into actionable insights and predictive analytics that help brands and retailers put safe and ethical products in the hands of their consumers,” Breteau said.
In a QIMA study from July 2020, 87 percent of respondents said that they were adjusting how they were managing their supply chains due to the pandemic.
“The past three to four years have shown the world how global and critical supply chains are. They are also increasingly complex to manage and prone to disruption,” Breteau said. “In addition, consumers’ expectations for traceability and transparency on the quality, ethical and environmental footprint of what they buy have never been higher. Brands need more than ever eyes in their supply chain, as well as digital tools that increase their agility and capacity to react quickly and anticipate ESG risks.”