Frère used the proceeds from this sale to build an investment empire around the Swiss holding company Pargesa which he founded with the Canadian investor Paul Desmarais.
Paul Desmarais (born 1927), Canadian billionaire and CEO of the Power Corporation of Canada
French President Nicolas Sarkozy came under fire after allegations that his presidential campaign was illegally funded by Liliane Bettencourt, L'Oréal heiress and France's wealthiest woman.
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Sérigny is close to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, heads numerous companies, and a member of the board of directors of Imerys, a mining company partially owned by a subsidiary of the Power Corporation of Canada and majority owned by the Desmarais family and tycoon Albert Frère, the richest man in Belgium who was involved in the UN Oil-for-Food scandal.
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Then he looked for companies in Europe to extend the influence of PCC, he met the Belgian financier Albert Frère to the Board of Directors of Paribas.
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In addition, he owns about 15% of Groupe Bruxelles Lambert, a Belgian holding company, which in 2001 acquired a 25% interest in the German media company Bertelsmann, whose subsidiaries include BMG and Random House (the German company Bertelsmann bought the 25% back in July 2006).
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He is one of two sons of Paul Desmarais, Sr. Born in Ottawa, Ontario, he attended Lakefield College School in Ontario for two years, then Selwyn House School and later obtained a Bachelor of Commerce from Concordia University, both of which are located in Montreal.