Based in Paris, France, we own interests in a diversified portfolio of assets across Western Europe, Canada and the United States.

Spun off from TC Energy, South Bow owns and operates one of the most strategic, vital and irreplaceable infrastructure systems in North America: The Keystone liquids pipeline and its adjacent network of storage assets, spanning 4,900 kilometers across the continent and connecting the steady heavy oil production from the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin to the refineries of the Midwest and the Gulf Coast. About 1.25 million barrels flow through South Bow’s pipelines each day, with storage capacity for another 7.5 million. Standard invested in the days following the separation from TC, as forced selling by index funds pushed the stock to a level yielding nearly a double-digit dividend.

A specialist in furniture hardware with 112 centers and soon half of its business in the United States, Québec-based Quincaillerie Richelieu, which caters primarily to a clientele of professionals, sports a pristine M&A record, an unusually high level of employee shareholding, and a thoughtful, value-driven expansion strategy under the guidance of its chief executive officer Richard Lord. In France, century-old distributor of building materials Groupe Samse shares all the same characteristics, but traded at the time of our investment at a single-digit multiple of its earnings despite a remarkable history of growth and returns of capital to shareholders.

Founded and led by industry veteran Simon Azoulay, French engineering and IT consulting group Alten tripled its earnings and revenue over the past decade. Despite its resilient business model, fortress-like balance sheet and prolific M&A strategy, its stock market valuation bore the full force of the severe recession that started in Europe in late 2023 as it fell to less than eight times operating earnings. This is precisely the opportunity Standard had been waiting for to start acquiring shares in 2025, for Alten had gone through many such downturns in the past, only to emerge stronger when the economy recovered.

Europe’s second-largest lender, BNP Paribas, which has become a powerhouse in asset management following its takeover of Axa IM, traded at the time of our investment well below its tangible book value despite returning to solid double-digit returns and offering an 8% dividend yield. Indexing and ETF heavyweight Amundi, Europe’s largest asset manager, faced similar valuation multiples when Standard invested. Both were chosen largely for their income-producing characteristics.