Quebecor chief executive Pierre Karl Péladeau in Montreal in May, 2025. Mr. Péladeau has said he can chart a new path for Air Transat, which he believes is underperforming financially and operationally.Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press
Transat AT Inc. TRZ-T is blasting efforts by Quebec media magnate Pierre Karl Péladeau to take control of the travel company, saying its turnaround plan is working and that he’s offered “no capital, no plan, and no execution roadmap” ahead of a meeting next month to decide its future.
The Montreal-based corporation, which runs vacation carrier Air Transat, is facing a fight for control of its boardroom. Mr. Péladeau, who runs the Quebecor Inc. QBR-B-T media and telecommunications empire, controls 9.5 per cent of Transat shares through a personal investment company, Financière Outremont, and wants to oust the board.
Mr. Péladeau has said he can chart a new path for the company, which he believes is underperforming financially and operationally. He is proposing that Transat have six directors, including himself, current Quebecor vice-chairman André Brosseau and pollster Jean-Marc Léger, who previously sat on the board of Groupe TVA, a Quebecor Media subsidiary.
In a letter to shareholders Thursday filed as part of Transat’s proxy circular, chairwoman Susan Kudzman rejects the idea that the company is lacking proper leadership. And she dismisses Mr. Péladeau’s proxy effort as an attempt to wrestle effective control of Transat at the expense of other shareholders at a time it can least afford it.
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“Introducing extensive governance disruption now would create real operational risk, distracting from transformation, causing potential leadership turnover, and weakening the board’s ability to fully support the company and play its role,” Ms. Kudzman said in the letter, adding no control premium has been proposed.
“While Financière Outremont claims to be concerned about governance and the future of Transat, Mr. Péladeau and his nominees have offered no capital, no plan, and no execution roadmap. It has failed to detail a plan to fund growth, manage financial leverage, or address fleet and labour issues in a highly regulated, complex, international, capital-intensive industry.”
Mr. Péladeau did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday when contacted through a spokesman. In an interview with Radio Canada in December, he characterized Transat as a well-known company that Quebeckers identify with but that has lost its way.
“Transat has been at a standstill for four years,” Mr. Péladeau said, adding the current board accepted a debt deal with the Canadian government that is not in the company’s best interest. He also questioned whether Transat’s resources were being used effectively, and suggested the company needs to expand and be more ambitious in the face of heightened industry competition.
The Transat chairwoman criticized Mr. Péladeau and his two nominees for their lack of industry experience. He has countered that, unlike current directors, he has “skin in the game” as a major shareholder and has the company’s best interests at heart.
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The clash looks set to come to a head at Transat’s annual meeting on March 10 in Montreal. The company said it offered Mr. Péladeau one board seat, in line with his share stake, but he declined. It is proposing a slate of eight nominees for directors, half of them new and independent, as a “responsible evolution of Transat’s governance.”
Transat has two other major shareholders that together hold 16.1 per cent of the voting shares: The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and the Fonds de solidarité FTQ labour fund. They are backing the travel company’s slate of eight candidates, which include one nominee each from their organizations.
Transat’s circular states that the company, together with the Caisse and the Fonds de solidarité, tried to reach an agreement with Financière Outremont in recent weeks, right up until early February. Those efforts did not yield a deal.
Transat in December posted its first annual profit since 2018 and an increase in revenue to $3.4-billion. Months earlier, the company renegotiated its $762-million bailout debt owed to taxpayers in a deal that gave Ottawa a 20-per-cent ownership stake.
The debt agreement has angered Mr. Péladeau, who says it places the federal government in the position of stockholder, regulator and creditor, and limits the company’s investment opportunities. He lost a court battle over the agreement in the summer but has vowed to renegotiate it should he win control of the boardroom.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that pollster Jean-Marc Léger is on the board of Groupe TVA, a Quebecor Media subsidiary. Mr. Léger is no longer on the Groupe TVA board.