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The Contrecoeur Marine Terminal in Quebec. It is unclear how the Caisse’s move will affect the Port of Montreal’s new container terminal plan for Contrecoeur.Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press
Canadian pension fund giant Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is suspending its deal making with DP World Ltd. in the wake of revelations linking the chairman and chief executive of the logistics multinational to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The Caisse has asked the Dubai-based company to “shed light on the situation” and take whatever action might be necessary, spokesman Jean-Benoît Houde said in an e-mailed statement Tuesday. “Until then, we are pausing additional capital deployment alongside the company,” he said.
State-owned DP World is a major global logistics player, with operations in more than 69 countries. Its Canadian business, led by a local executive team, includes port facilities in Vancouver, Fraser Surrey, Nanaimo and Prince Rupert in British Columbia, and Saint John.
Files released by the U.S. Department of Justice suggest that DP World head Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem not only knew Mr. Epstein but exchanged messages with him about sex as well as business long after the financier was convicted on charges including procuring a minor for prostitution in 2008.
In one 2015 text that was made public, Mr. Sulayem sent a message to Mr. Epstein that read: “Check out my very own hairy porn site!” In another e-mail in 2009, they discuss the fallout from an article in The Wall Street Journal about an American businessman’s involvement in the Dubai debt crisis.
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The messages include one in 2013 in which Mr. Sulayem describes to Mr. Epstein a woman he either met or was planning to meet in Paris, noting her age, weight, height, bra size and favourite cuisine. In another in 2015, he tells Mr. Epstein about another intimate encounter with a foreign exchange student at a university in Dubai. “She got engaged but now she back with me,” he said.
Mr. Sulayem is one of several prominent people whose relationship with Mr. Epstein has come to light. Ghislaine Maxwell, Mr. Epstein’s former girlfriend, invoked her Fifth Amendment rights this week and declined to answer questions from U.S. lawmakers.
DP World did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday. It has for years been one of the Caisse’s biggest partners, with the two companies making billions in joint infrastructure investments in Canada and around the world.
At last count, the Caisse had assets of $496-billion.
In 2016, the two companies announced they were setting up an investment vehicle worth $5-billion that aimed to invest in global ports and terminals, with a focus on investment-grade countries. The agreement rolled in two of DP World’s Canadian container terminals, located in Vancouver and Prince Rupert, with the Caisse acquiring a 45-per-cent stake of the combined assets for $865-million.
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That was followed by more deals. In 2022, the two partners announced they would invest $6.3-billion in three of DP World’s flagship assets in the United Arab Emirates, including the Jebel Ali Port.
The Caisse made the right decision by announcing it was pausing additional investments with DP World, said François Dauphin, president of Montreal’s Institute for Governance of Private and Public Organizations. The pension fund “will want to ensure that DP World manages this sensitive situation appropriately and takes the necessary steps to prevent the company, and its partners, from being tarnished or its operations from being jeopardized by a damaged reputation,” he said.
The Caisse is not invested in DP World directly, Mr. Houde cautioned. “It is also important to distinguish the company, DP World, from the individual, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, who is the focus of the current situation,” he said.
One big question is how this development will affect the Port of Montreal’s new container terminal plan for Contrecoeur, which is one of the projects the Canadian government has dubbed of national importance.
DP World’s Canadian unit, a joint venture with the Caisse, struck a development agreement with the Montreal Port Authority that will see the company build Contrecoeur’s land-based operations and run the cargo facility for the next 40 years, according to a news release published last September. The final financing package for the project has yet to be hammered out.
Ottawa and Quebec have already pledged $150-million and $130-million, respectively, toward the now-estimated $2.3-billion project, pitched as a key piece of transportation infrastructure needed to serve markets in Quebec, Ontario and the U.S. Midwest. The Canada Infrastructure Bank has also committed a $300-million loan.
“As the Caisse has requested that the matter be clarified, we will await the outcome of this process with interest,” said Montreal Port Authority spokeswoman Evelyne Déry.
