Fairfax, a financial holding company based in Toronto, has acquired Carillion Canada’s services business, thereby saving 4,500 jobs.Â
The news comes after 6,000 Canadian jobs were said to be under threat from the UK parent’s liquidation.
The agreement concerns Carillion Canada’s facility management operations, including work on "airports, commercial properties, defence facilities, select healthcare facilities and on behalf of oil, gas and mining clients".
Simon Buttery, president of Carillion Canada, said the transaction would "provide certainty and stability for the clients we work for and the customers we serve, and a strong platform for the continued growth of the business".
Fairfax will appoint David Johnston, former governor general of Canada, and Stephen Wallace, former secretary to the governor general of Canada, to Carillion Canada’s board of directors when the transaction has been completed.
If the acquisition meets with the approval of regulators it will go through in the next couple of months.Â
It is unknown if there is a plan for the rest of Carillion Canada’s business and its remaining 1,500 employees, although a recent statement from the firm said "operations are not in liquidation and will continue uninterrupted".
Image: Carillion used this photograph to illustrate its work with oil companies in Canada
