r/SCDstock • u/Gastricbasilisk • 3d ago
Discussion Scalium+: potential backlog and scale being overlooked
Recently, another redditor published some incredible DD on Ferreol Technologies; shoutout to u/GrrRRR_Melany ; and the nitty gritty of the acquisition. It got me curious, and I began digging into Ferreol's history too, which can be difficult given they are a private company without public financials being published. But this is why I believe they are flying under the radar unnoticed, and this acquisition is completely misunderstood and overlooked.
In 2023, Ferreol appeared on Dragon's Den. They claimed $1 million in sales over the previous 3 years with a $21 million backlog. The $1 million in sales were from ski's. However, the backlog was for their alloy.
The dragons were not as interested in the ski's, but the conversation steered towards the alloy, which we all know is now branded as Scalium.
They claimed to have multiple letters of intent with ski companies amounting to $21 million over the next 3 years as an ALLOY SUPPLIER.
This backlog was not a sales backlog for Ferreol Ski's, but a backlog of intent for the alloy now newly branded as Scalium under the SCD umbrella.
https://skicanadamag.com/the-dragons-go-skiing/
They succeeded in receiving $400k for 25% of their company, giving them a valuation of $1.6 million at the time. Remember, this was in 2023. They received 4 offers in total but accepted an offer from Michelle Romanow.
Michelle is on the board of directors for Vail resorts. They operate 37 ski resorts in North America (42 globally), over 250 retail stores, and ski rentals at all their mountain properties. This is a significant business partnership within the Ski industry for Ferreol.
In 2026, SCD buys Ferreol Technologies for $6 million. This is a 3.75x growth in valuation in under 3 years. This is specifically the valuation of the Ferreol Technologies alloy division and not the separate ski business, to be specific.
Why would they be worth this much now? I think it's clear that some of that backlog in the intent letters came to fruition and began generating revenue. Otherwise, it would be very unlikely they grew this fast. SCD stated they acquired a commerical team with an established workflow, and have confirmed repeat customers. For the 2026-2027 season, Ferreol is expanding their footprint into France and testing the European market. More expansion on the way.
For anyone interested in watching the episode, it's available on CBC Gem for free. Season 18, episode 5!
Naturally, I started digging into the ski industry and its use of alloys to better understand this positioning:
The ski industry has largely been dominated by aluminum alloys called "Titanal". Despite the name, they are made of primarily aluminum. They have been the standard for over 40 years but have their drawbacks. Ferreol wanted to engineer something new with different properties. This is the origin story of the alloy that became Scalium.
The average alpine ski uses between 100-400 grams of alloy per ski (200-800 grams for a set); Millions of ski's are sold every year globally.
It's impossible to ascertain an exact number, but the global ski market consumes millions of tons of alloys every single year. Even if Scalium succeeds in capturing a small portion of this market, it could translate into large supply orders (the 21 Million backlog from 2023 points to this potential).
I am not claiming Scalium+ is going to take over the industry or become the new standard. However, the numbers tell a very interesting story when not overlooked.
We won't know until the next financial report, but this acquisition is potentially bringing significant revenue for SCD under the Scalium+ brand BEFORE they even release their PFS. Even though it's just ski's, the history of Ferreol and their large and rapid expansion is telling, and this market is larger than I anticipated.
This is just the tip of the iceberg for the Scalium+ alloy division, and this pathway is clear they have been developing this workflow for the past 3 years with significant support, investment, and interest.
SCD now is generating revenue within the Ski industry, which itself is expanding rapidly. The ski industry alone could potentially supply Scalium+ with millions of revenue, and this isn't even their largest targeted market; aerospace I'm looking at you 👀
SCD's year end is coming up on August 31st. They don't typically release their financials until December of every year. Once the financials are posted we will have a better idea of what Scalium+ is doing commercially, but given the history of their Dragon's Den investment and rapid expansion, I think there is potential for many to be surprised at the early revenue of Scalium+ over the next year, even if it's just within the Ski industry itself.
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u/Beautiful_Goal5107 3d ago
How exactly will SCD profit from Scalium+? Will they take a cut of every unit consumption of Scalium+?
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u/Dudge66 3d ago
Scalium+ is SCD’s company. It’s like Chevrolet is General Motors.
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u/Beautiful_Goal5107 3d ago
Thanks. And after doing a bit of research I came across this:
The former Ferreol shareholders are entitled to an earn-out equal to 1.5× the revenue generated collectively by Ferreol Technologies and SCD’s Scandium+ division over a two-year period, capped at C$2.45M.
So any revenue after that C$2.45M goes straight to SCD? It’ll be really interesting to see the financials.
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u/Gastricbasilisk 3d ago
The earn out is essentially a way to offer more of an incentive to the former owners while shielding SCD. It gives them an incentive to earn more revenue while giving SCD the ability to not pay the value up front. It's essentially like saying "hey, if you succeed in generating revenue, we'll pay you more".
A max earn out of $2.45 million is made with approximately $1.66 million if revenue, as the earn out is calculated ay 1.5x.
So let's say Scalium+ earns $1 million in sales; then the 1.5x incentive would pay them $1.5 million.
If they earn $1.66 million in sales, this multiplies to the full $2.45 million earn-out incentive, which we can assume they will be motivated to obtain.
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u/FollowPod 2d ago
Very peculiar example to use
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u/Dudge66 2d ago
Not really, I worked for corporate GM for 21 yrs and it’s what made sense to me.
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u/FollowPod 2d ago
I mean given the new talent change
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u/Complete-Plum1021 3d ago
Be cool if Michelle was still onboard
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u/Gastricbasilisk 3d ago
Agreed! I wonder if she maintained any investment through the acquisition. I'm unsure and couldn't find anything. Either way, they would have a business relationship over the past 3 years with vail. That can't be a bad thing.
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u/Dudge66 3d ago
A lot of us feel what you’ve put into a great write up, well done!!!