MONTREAL — A group of Quebec investors has reached a deal to acquire and relaunch Lion Electric, offering a second chance to the struggling vehicle-maker.
The St-Jérôme, Que.-based manufacturer made the announcement Thursday evening, after a months-long search for a buyer that nearly came up empty.
The agreement comes after the Quebec government refused to inject more public funds directly into Lion Electric, which sought protection from its creditors in December. However, the province announced it would pump nearly $500 million into a subsidy program for electric school buses that will benefit the company.
The consortium of investors is led by Pierre Wilkie, a director of the company, and Vincent Chiara, president of Montreal real estate developer Groupe MACH. Lion Electric will present the deal to a Quebec Superior Court judge on Wednesday.
A previous offer by the group of investors fell through after Quebec Economy Minister Christine Fréchette announced last month that it would be irresponsible to invest more government money in Lion Electric, which manufactured electric school buses and trucks. News reports said the investors were seeking $24 million in public funds.
The province has already invested heavily in the company, and Premier François Legault has said the government stands to lose about $140 million.
After that deal failed, a representative of the court-appointed monitor for the company said Lion Electric would likely face liquidation.
But last week, the investors made a new, reduced offer after receiving confirmation that Quebec would renew its subsidy program for electric school buses, which had expired in March.
"It wasn't easy to get to where we are this morning," said Guy Martel, a lawyer representing Lion Electric, during a court hearing on Friday. "It's a result, but it's still not what we had hoped for at the very beginning of the process."
Under the terms of the agreement, Lion Electric will preserve its manufacturing plant in St-Jérôme, but will permanently lay off some employees.
On Thursday, the government released details of the new subsidy program for electric school buses, which will now offer rebates of $240,000 on each bus purchase, up from a maximum of $175,000. That program has been a key to Lion's success in Quebec, in part because buses must be assembled in Canada to be eligible.
Quebec is aiming to electrify 65 per cent of its school bus fleet by 2030, and the new program will run until 2028, with a budget of $480 million. The provincial government says there are about 1,600 electric school buses in Quebec, out of a total fleet of around 11,500 buses. About 1,175 of the electric buses were manufactured by Lion.
Even as it renewed the subsidy program, however, Quebec scrapped a requirement in place since 2021 that all new school bus purchases be electric. "Operators will now be able to choose between electric or thermal … buses to renew their fleet," a spokesperson for Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault said in a statement.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 16, 2025.
Maura Forrest, The Canadian Press
