US-amerikanisches Verteidigungsunternehmen will bis zu 100 Millionen US-Dollar für den Bau einer Waffenfabrik in Ontario aufbringen

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A U.S. defence company is looking to raise as much as $100-million to build a manufacturing facility in Ontario focusing mainly on small arms that would supply the Canadian military and expand the domestic production of weaponry.

LeafStar Holdings LLC told the provincial government this week in meetings that it’s seeking to build a factory in Southern Ontario that would make small arms and light weapons that can be used by military forces and private security contractors, according to two sources with knowledge of the discussions.

LeafStar, a Virginia-based private equity company operating in the defence sector, already operates a small-arms plant in Sweden that has secured contracts with larger defence companies to manufacture weapons for the Swedish military. The project in Ontario would be based on a similar business model and could create up to 300 jobs, ranging from engineers to metallurgists to quality control personnel, according to the sources. The Globe and Mail is not naming the sources because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the venture.

The company intends to raise between $70-million and $100-million from investors – mainly European and Canadian – to break ground on the project, the sources said. One of LeafStar’s primary investors is an Ottawa private equity firm, Ethical Capital Partners, best known for its acquisition of the parent company of Pornhub in 2023.

LeafStar aims to set up a Canadian subsidiary in Ontario that would run the plant.

The defence company became interested in expanding to Ontario after Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a commitment to invest $180-billion in defence procurement over the next decade.

The federal government’s first-ever Defence Industrial Strategy, announced this past February, prioritizes boosting sovereign capabilities and directing military arms contracts to Canadian companies first. Ammunition, including small arms, is one of the 10 sovereign capabilities identified by Ottawa in its strategy as a supply chain it would like to build and control in Canada.

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They are not a defense company, they are a private equity holding company looking to be a pig at the trough of our increased defense spending.

If it does happen, I worry that a future US govt would divert the output to their use should they want because it’s a US company.

Had somebody suggested something similar to this 3 or 4 years ago , I would have said they’re nuts! The last 18 months suggest anything is now possible.

>One of LeafStar’s primary investors is an Ottawa private equity firm, Ethical Capital Partners, best known for its acquisition of the parent company of Pornhub in 2023.

Nothing screams „ethical capital“ like more porn and guns.

need a Canadian solution not an American transplant