{"id":297339,"date":"2025-11-21T10:54:18","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T10:54:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/297339\/"},"modified":"2025-11-21T10:54:18","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T10:54:18","slug":"canadas-openness-to-foreign-investment-catching-investors-attention-swedish-fund-manager-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/297339\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada\u2019s openness to foreign investment catching investors\u2019 attention, Swedish fund manager says"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Prime Minister Mark Carney walks with King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and Queen Silvia in Ottawa on Nov. 18, during a state visit that included a delegation of Swedish business leaders and policy makers.DAVE CHAN\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

One of Europe\u2019s largest asset managers is looking to invest more in Canadian digital and energy infrastructure after hearing Prime Minister Mark Carney<\/a>\u2019s pitch to attract foreign capital on a state visit with Sweden\u2019s Royal Family. <\/p>\n

The head of infrastructure at Stockholm-based EQT Group, Masoud Homayoun, said in an interview Wednesday that the general \u201ctone, receptiveness, openness to partnership\u201d that he heard in Ottawa this week opens the door to an expanded presence in Canada. <\/p>\n

EQT manages \u20ac267-billion ($433-billion) \u2013 of which about 30 per cent is in infrastructure \u2013 and has stakes in more than 300 portfolio companies around the world. Its infrastructure team has \u201ccontinued very high interest\u201d in investing in Canada, especially in digital and artificial intelligence infrastructure, clean energy and waste management, he said. <\/p>\n

EQT\u2019s infrastructure portfolio already has large, indirect interests in Canada through companies worth a combined US$50-billion that are based elsewhere but do significant business in Canada. Those include telecommunications company Zayo Group Holdings Inc., waste-to-energy company Reworld Waste LLC, and school bus operator First Student Inc. <\/p>\n

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Mr. Homayoun was part of a delegation of Swedish business leaders and policy makers visiting Canada this week as part of a state visit<\/a> led by Sweden\u2019s King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia.<\/p>\n

Mr. Homayoun met with Mr. Carney and Finance Minister Fran\u00e7ois-Philippe Champagne on Tuesday before Mr. Carney travelled to the United Arab Emirates to try to drum up new foreign investment. <\/p>\n

Some of the meetings Mr. Homayoun attended, such as one with major pension funds, included industrialist Marcus Wallenberg, a member of the prominent family that backs major Swedish companies such as Saab AB and Ericsson, as well as EQT.<\/p>\n

Coming out of those meetings, Mr. Homayoun said Ottawa\u2019s commitment to fostering a more predictable business environment with less red tape \u201cis reassuring and helpful for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s not, at least from our perspective, a single policy that\u2019s going to make or break it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The backdrop for the talks is heightened uncertainty for investors and rising trade barriers around the world, as Europe and Asia also pursue investment capital more aggressively and look to reduce their reliance on the United States. <\/p>\n

Carney\u2019s budget conundrum: How to unlock business investment during a trade war<\/a><\/p>\n

EQT is hunting for opportunities across North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, and favours markets that can provide long-term stability, Mr. Homayoun said. <\/p>\n

\u201cDo we find those better energy opportunities right now in Canada, or do we find them in Germany, which is doing an equal push as your government is doing on the energy side? Or do we find them in Sweden, or do we find them in [South] Korea? We\u2019ll make those assessments obviously,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

But \u201cin light of the current environment, I think the prospects of doing more in Canada has only increased,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

EQT also regularly partners with major Canadian pension funds such as Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) on investments around the world.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, EQT and Bank of Montreal\u2019s asset management arm jointly launched the ALTitude EQT Global Infrastructure Fund<\/a>, which is tailored to accredited retail investors who are seeking exposure to a broad portfolio of infrastructure assets. <\/p>\n

Canada is in intensive talks with defence company Saab<\/a>, which is proposing to build Gripen fighter jets entirely in Canada if Ottawa purchases them to revamp its fleet, creating an estimated 10,000 jobs. Saab has also suggested adding another 3,000 jobs by building its GlobalEye military surveillance plane in Canada. <\/p>\n

\u201cOthers will decide if that\u2019s a path forward,\u201d Mr. Homayoun said, but EQT \u201ccould certainly play a role in critical infrastructure\u201d in Canada. <\/p>\n

With Arctic sovereignty and defence taking on new urgency, and Canada and Sweden both looking to develop housing for northern populations, \u201cour geography and our circumstances\u201d create a natural alignment, he said.<\/p>\n

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The largest investment opportunity EQT is pursuing in Canada could be in data centres, through a platform called EdgeConneX that builds AI infrastructure mostly in the U.S. and Europe. <\/p>\n

Infrastructure projects in Canada have sometimes been hampered by \u201climitations in terms of power access and permitting,\u201d Mr. Homayoun said, \u201cbut we\u2019re working through those to see if we can expand in that area.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Swedish royals, Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch and Defence Minister Pal Jonson visited the Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute, Mila, on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Other opportunities that EQT is eyeing in Canada could include diverting waste from landfills, converting methane emissions from waste to renewable natural gas, and building renewable energy and battery storage.<\/p>\n

To land that investment, Canada has to deliver on its business-friendly message. \u201cAs we all know, proof is in the pudding,\u201d Mr. Homayoun said. \u201cWe need to do our work and we need to also see that this is put to action.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Prime Minister Mark Carney walks with King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":297340,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,43,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,44,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,41,39,42,40,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-297339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-headlines","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-news","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=297339"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297339\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/297340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}