financial restructuring, business transition financing, family and non-family buyout, consolidations, turnaround, and leveraged management buyouts. It also invests in new markets, product and business line developments, market diversification, interim financings, new product marketing, additional working capital, purchase of tangible and intangible assets, equipment modernization, equipment purchases or upgrades, and integrator projects. The firm has regional funds that do not invest in retail, real estate, farming, biotechnology, and financial services.

Fonds de solidarité FTQ invests in small and medium-sized businesses. It typically invests in export projects, forest products, productivity improvement, natural resources, aerospace, agri-food, wood, pulp and paper, chemicals, construction and construction materials, printing, transportation equipment and automobiles, transportation services, furniture and fixtures, combinatorial chemistry and other lead generating technologies, mining and exploration, social economy, textiles, plastics, life sciences, business services, telecommunications, distribution and consumer goods, environment, equipment and machinery, financial services, information and communication technology, metal products, recreational tourism, and culture sectors.

Within the culture sector, Fonds de solidarité FTQ seeks to invest in pre-production and creative projects, production projects, infrastructures and services, post-production projects, distribution, and broadcasting and multiplatform broadcasting. Within the environment sector, it invests in waste management and energy conversion for residual waste; air treatment and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions; processes to reduce industrial energy and water consumption; water treatment; and soil rehabilitation and decontamination (metals and organic compounds).

Within the life sciences sector, Fonds de solidarité FTQ focuses on services for the biopharmaceutical industry; nutraceuticals and cosmeceuticals; diagnostics and medical supplies and equipment; biopharmaceuticals and generic drugs; biotechnology, and animal health. Within the tourism sector, it focuses on urban tourism, nature tourism, resort type tourism, and local tourism for Quebecers, and in the textiles sector it invests in companies engaged in development and production of specialty textiles as well as development of industrial applications for the construction, transportation, health and safety, and work apparel industries.

Fonds de solidarité FTQ prefers to invest in Quebec and in companies impacting the Québec economy. It focuses on investing in the following regions- Abitibi –Témiscamingue, Bas Saint Laurent, Chaudière-Appalaches, Côte-Nord, Estrie, Gaspésie Îles-de-la-Madeleine, Lanaudière, Laurentides, Laval, Mauricie - Centre-du-Québec, Montérégie, Nord-du-Québec, Outaouais, and Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean.

Fonds de solidarité FTQ seeks to invest in projects of $3 million or more and also provides loans of up to $ 2 million. It invests in companies in business succession sector having minimum capitalization of $500,000 and EBITDA of over $35.5 million in case of majority interest; equipment and machinery sector with average investment in excess of $3 million; environment sector with funding needs of more than $500000; financial services sector having net assets between $20 million and $50 million in equity; metal products sector having annual sales of over $5 million and financing needs of at least $2 million; and printing sector having investment needs of over $1 million.

In the information technology sector, Fonds de solidarité FTQ seeks to invest $2 million as initial investments while total investments can be more than $10 million. It invests in the form of equity financing (common or preferred shares) and unsecured debt requiring no collateral (debenture).

Fonds de solidarité FTQ can take both a minority interest including an equity stake of up to 49 percent as well a majority interest in its portfolio companies in case of business succession financing. It seeks a minority stake for the portfolio companies in the equipment and machinery sector. It typically holds its investments for a period of five to ten years in case of equity financing and for more than ten years in case of business succession financing.

Fonds de solidarité FTQ began operation on June 23, 1983. It has its headquarters in Montreal in Canada with additional offices in the same city and Quebec in the same country.