Sylvie Gagnon
Templeton Marsh Mergers & Acquisitions has hired ScotiaBank Auto Finance executive Sylvie Gagnon as Director of Sales in Quebec to step up its presence in the province.
Templeton Marsh Managing Partner Samir Akhavan told Canadian auto dealer he hired Gagnon, who worked for ScotiaBank for the last 16 years as General Sales Manager in Quebec and has almost 35 years experience in the automotive industry that includes working with Ford Credit Canada, because his company has never really established a significant footprint in Quebec and had never been able to find the right partner.
“We’ve had representation in Quebec for the last six years, but all of the deals have been done by me,” said Akhavan. “She’s the first of what I would call an effective partner. We were missing a great piece of the province. We were primarily in Montreal. It needs somebody who lives there and knows the market and knows the dealers.”
Akhavan, who indicated his company is pursuing some fairly significant transactions but did not provide any details, said he had always been trying to find the right partner for the province. Two dealer group clients he talked to highly recommended Gagnon. He said when they met they shared the same values and considered the same components of integrity and discretion to be the “bedrock” of doing business.
“She’s already got dealers that would like to sell and who will be doing so in partnership with Templeton Marsh,” said Akhavan. “Clearly, the evidence indicates it was a good decision for her and a good decision for us. We have done a lot of business in Quebec, but clearly we can do a lot more and Sylvie’s addition will allow us to do that.”
Gagnon had been planning to retire in the next few years and was caught off guard when approached with the offer.
“The association with Samir is a great thing because I know a lot of people in Quebec and Samir knows a lot of people in Quebec and also in Western Canada and Atlantic Canada,” said Gagnon. “I was very passionate about my job and I loved ScotiaBank, but it’s a question of timing.”
