Stop Thief!

Andre Boulay: Targets U.S.

The Gazette

Francois Shalom

12/27/00

Andre Boulay

AGE: 27

OCCUPATION: businessman and inventor, co-founder of Boomerang tracking inc.

CEGEP? Not for me, said Andre Boulay. University, even less. "I couldn''t wait to leave school after Grade 11," said Boulay, now 27.

That folly has exacted its price.

Boulay now has to work 80 hours a week, is on call 24 hours a day, gets paid a minimum salary and has no time for marriage or kids.

OK, so he''s worth $17.2 million, or thereabouts.

"But only on paper," he insisted, referring to his 3.6 million shares of Boomerang, an anti-theft, car-tracking device firm he started with three pals in 1995, when he was 22.

Strictly on paper for now. But the high-school dropout has plans that could make his current worth a mere drop in the ocean.

His company has sold about 40,000 Boomerangs, devices that are hidden in a car and feed off a cellular-phone network, emitting signals continuously every few minutes. This permits trackers - and police - to pin down the exact location of a stolen vehicle, usually within minutes of its theft.

In two years, the company has recovered 700 cars, mostly in the Montreal area, valued at $40 million.

No wonder insurance companies are beginning to demand that owners of heavy equipment and high-priced cars - especially sport-utility vehicles or pickup trucks - install Boomerangs. Or find another insurer.

The Quebec market is only a springboard for Boulay''s ambitions, though. The real target is the U.S., where the company is devoting most of its energies these days.

Big, for Boulay, has always been an end in itself.

"After I left school, I worked for my dad, who had a small family business importing brake rotors and discs, things like that, and redistributing them."

"The problem is that for me, I wanted a big company. I mean big, you know. My dad, he''s always been satisfied with his firm."

There was a bit of mild family unpleasantness.

"I''m his only son, and I think he would have wanted me to stay and help run his business."

But dad''s doubts soon passed. In fact, "everyone had doubts, but they apparently find it easier to accept now."

As for marriage plans, Boulay is evasive when asked if he''s ready to formalize his eight-year liaison with his girlfriend, now 24.

"It''s tough. I really am on call (from his firm''s trackers and police) 24 hours a day, I put in a minimum of 80 hours each week, and, you know, I really don''t pay myself a large salary."

Boomerang® is a registered trademark of Boomerang Tracking Inc. It's headquarters are located in Montreal, Quebec. Boomerang products are sold and distributed in the provinces of Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia and in the Dominican Republic. Boomerang Tracking Inc. shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE) under the trading symbol "BMG".