A lawyer who broke into Montreal’s real estate industry by accident and helped drive billions in deals is striking out on his own.
Laurent Dionne‑Legendre joined Mach Group nearly a decade ago as a legal intern with little exposure to real estate, entering through a Quebec internship program at a time when jobs were hard to find.
He left Mach last year to launch Laurier Capital with Guillaume Jaco, having given several months’ notice before formally stepping out on his own.
The two first met early in their careers on opposite sides of a transaction involving an office property on Crémazie Boulevard, where each was working on their first deal. They stayed in touch over time and eventually decided to formalize a partnership, combining Jacob’s brokerage background with Dionne‑Legendre’s investment experience.
Dionne‑Legendre said he landed his job at Mach, but not in a traditional way. “I applied online. It was very random,” he said in an interview. “I knew nothing about real estate, nothing about Mach.”
"A crazy nine years"
He learned the commercial property business on the ground and quickly expanded his role. After a few years in legal, he pushed to transition into investments while keeping responsibilities on both sides.
“Real estate is contract‑driven, so having legal and investment together helped me,” he said.
The dual role set up a rapid rise through the company. Dionne‑Legendre advanced to senior director of investments and later became a vice president. He worked on roughly $6 billion in acquisitions as Mach grew from about 70 employees to 500.
“It was a crazy nine years,” he said.
That stretch included several major transactions, including dealmaking tied to the privatization of Cominar. Dionne‑Legendre said the experience shaped how he approaches a competition for real estate assets.
“If you want to win deals, you have to be creative and flexible,” he said.
Dionne‑Legendre's new firm, Laurier Capital, is focused on value‑add opportunities in office and retail, targeting assets where leasing can drive returns. Dionne‑Legendre said the firm aims to stay nimble in competitive situations.
“We can be nimble, we can move fast,” he said.
One of the firm's first deals involved a partnership with the Montreal-based Shayib family, a group active in multifamily development. The partners swooped in to buy an office-and-retail property at the venerable old Windsor Station after another buyer exited. “The first group dropped it and we came in with a firm bid,” he said.
The Windsor Station acquisition marked one of Laurier Capital’s first major moves. The asset fit Laurier’s value‑add strategy because much of the capital work had already been completed, leaving leasing as the main opportunity to drive returns. The deal also brought Laurier together with Groupe Society, controlled by the Cheaib family, as part of a consortium targeting a large, well‑located asset with vacancy to fill in a downtown market still favouring newer space.
Laurier Capital is targeting about $500 million in acquisitions in its first year across office and retail, and potentially larger enclosed malls if pricing aligns, Dionne‑Legendre said.
Dionne‑Legendre grew up in the Town of Mount Royal in a family of lawyers and studied law in Quebec before completing a master’s degree in business law at the Université de Montréal. “My parents are both lawyers," he said. "They took very little risk."
Outside of work, he is involved with Collège Jean‑de‑Brébeuf and Théâtre du Nouveau Monde. A former competitive basketball player, he said his career has been shaped by a relationship-driven approach.
“I’ve always been very social and involved,” he said. “It helps you connect with people.”