National Bank’s Bertrand Returns to Roots in TMX Counterbid

Three years after being passed over to head Canada’s largest stock exchange, Luc Bertrand is back, leading a group of banks and pension funds trying to keep TMX Group Inc. in Canadian hands and thwart a bid from the London bourse.

Bertrand has become the public face for Maple Group Acquisition Corp. in its unsolicited C$3.6 billion ($3.7 billion) offer to buy the Toronto Stock Exchange owner. Though the group includes four of the country’s biggest banks, and pension funds with C$450 billion in assets, Bertrand has done all the talking since the bid was announced last weekend.