22 September 2013

PRESS RELEASE – 2013 was an excellent year for Sherbrooke OEM. The company specializing in the design, manufacture, and installation of specialized equipment for sorting centres has reported a tremendously positive last 12 months, and anticipates tripling its sales in the coming year.

» View all photos from the press conference

The future of Sherbrooke OEM, founded in 1997 by Alain Brasseur and Bryan Sinram, seemed compromised for several years following the integration of an American shareholder in 2007. The addition of this new partner was motivated by an opportunity to strengthen a strategic partnership with an equipment supplier with a solid distribution network, which would open the US market to the Sherbrooke-based business. “We thought this alliance would boost our sales in the US. Unfortunately, they gradually became our competitors,” explained Alain Brasseur, President of Sherbrooke OEM.

Faced with this impasse and to regain control of the business, Alain Brasseur had no other choice but to find Quebec investors. And that is exactly what he has succeeded in doing over the past year, thanks to a partnership with Desjardins Business and Capital Croissance PME, a fund held by Capital régional et coopératif Desjardins and the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec.  “We are extremely proud to have helped buy back the shares held by the Americans so that Sherbrooke OEM could once again become a fully owned Quebec company,” pointed out André Levesque, Regional Vice-President at Desjardins Business Capital régional et coopératif.  “This transaction truly reflects our mission, which is to promote and nurture the best of Quebec entrepreneurship. It ensures the protection of OEM’s technology and intellectual property, which is vital to its long-term development, and also plays a role in maintaining and creating quality jobs in Sherbrooke.”

The first tangible benefit of this step was, without a doubt, obtaining the Valoris contract, one which Sherbrooke OEM was not able to bid on with its former shareholders. Sherbrooke OEM will design, manufacture, and install the conveyors, separators, and all of the sorting equipment Valoris requires at a cost of $14 995 000. “We worked hard to obtain this mandate in our region. A project on this scale is a real first in Quebec and will serve as a great showcase for us across Canada,” said Alain Brasseur proudly.

This pride is shared by Chloé Legris, Director of Business Development in the key sector of Clean Technologies at Sherbrooke Innopole. “Valoris is a unique, innovative concept that will give a new lease on life to more than 60% of waste material, either in the form of energy or as raw materials for other industries—creating both wealth and jobs,” she explained. “The fact that Sherbrooke OEM was selected to participate in this project not only proves that it possesses state-of-the-art expertise, but it will also offer the company outstanding visibility.”

Sherbrooke OEM offers and manufactures the full range of equipment required for sorting centres, both new and reconditioned. It possesses its own optical sorting technology, the EagleVizion (EV) system, which provides a significant competitive advantage, resulting in a higher rate of waste being diverted from landfill using a reduced number of operators. Sherbrooke OEM is able to offer both turnkey projects and the option of buying individual pieces from its complete line of industrial sorting equipment used in recycling centres in North America.