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GF Productions, which produces the Montreux Comedy Festival in Switzerland, announced on Monday it is bowing out of a plan to purchase Montreal’s Just for Laughs comedy festival.

GF Productions made its intentions known to the bank assigned to oversee the purchase, saying in a public statement it prefers to use its energy and finances on its own network of festivals and other international projects.

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Grégoire Furrer, founder and owner of GF Productions, said he is convinced Just for Laughs should remain an entirely Quebec-owned property, and that a minority share in the enterprise would not be advantageous for his firm.

When GF Productions announced last October that it was interested in acquiring Just for Laughs, Furrer said he hoped to find a Quebec partner. However, he also acknowledged that given the context of the departure of founder Gilbert Rozon, an effort would have to be made to interest artists, partners and the public in the endeavour.

The 63-year-old Rozon, who began Just for Laughs in 1983, abandoned his interests in the festival after 10 women accused him of sexual harassment and sexual assault, some of them filing complaints with the police.