SNC-Lavalin: Dare To Buy?

MONTREAL – Quebec’s special anti-corruption police squad has arrested former SNC-Lavalin Inc. chief executive Pierre Duhaime. Montreal media outlets reported the arrest Wednesday morning. A spokesman for the squad did not immediately return calls. SNC shares fell 1.5% to $40.29 in morning trading as the news spread.

MONTREAL — Allegations of impropriety swirling around SNC-Lavalin and Quebec’s construction industry has prompted the Shriners to take greater control of who builds its new Montreal hospital, the philanthropic group said Thursday. The Shriners selected SNC-Lavalin to manage construction of the $127-million hospital that will be built adjacent to a $2.35-billion super-hospital set to open in the summer of 2015.

MONTREAL — SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. was so worried about losing managers while it scrambled to deal with the fallout from an ethics scandal last year that it paid out millions in special retention bonuses to keep them coming to work.

MONTREAL — SNC-Lavalin has confirmed that it made payments for more than a decade to commercial agents for projects in Libya, payments it says part of an investigation by Swiss authorities. The Montreal-based engineering and construction giant said Monday that it retained Duvel Securities Inc. and Dinova International Inc. in connection with projects in the North African country between 2001 and 2011.

MONTREAL — Newly unsealed information in an RCMP search warrant document alleges that SNC-Lavalin paid nearly $6-million to the son-in-law of Tunisia’s president between 2001 and 2010 to win contracts in the North African country. “The payments were destined for offshore companies belonging to Slim Chiboub,” the police affidavit says. “According to public-source information, the payments in question were made at a period when a variety of major contracts were awarded to SNC-Lavalin in Tunisia.”

MONTREAL — SNC-Lavalin says it was justified in firing a former executive last year because it claims he acted illegally to help smuggle the son of Libya dictator Moammar Gadhafi to Mexico. The engineering giant is defending itself against a nearly $1-million wrongful dismissal lawsuit filed by former controller Stephane Roy.

Market Blog submits: By David Berman If you’re thinking about walking through the field of beaten-up stocks in search of opportunities after the recent broad market selloff, here’s one idea: Desjardins Securities analyst Pierre Lacroix believes that SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. (SNCAF.PK) is worth a close look, largely because of the number of contracts that the engineering firm has been winning – and not just any old contracts.

MONTREAL — The Quebec Court of Appeal has rebuffed the provincial securities regulator, which feared there was a risk of “collusion” if SNC-Lavalin auditors were given details about its investigation into the scandal that has engulfed the engineering giant. In a ruling issued Wednesday, Quebec’s highest court supported the review office of l’Autorite des marches financiers, which allowed an SNC-Lavalin executive under investigation to provide details to the company’s audit committee and external auditors Deloitte & Touche.