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Power and Pargesa: chronology

Chronology

This chronology is indicative only. It covers -

Antecedents

1858 La Compagnie Universelle du Canal Maritime de Suez
formed to construct Suez canal

1880 Lyonnaise des Eaux founded

1925 Power Corporation of Canada established as response to Insull conglomerate

1927 sells Ottawa-Montreal Power

1927 takes stake in French utilities group Foreign Power Securities Corp

1928 sells Ottawa-Hull Power

1928 buys stake in British Columbia Power

1930 sells Dominion Power & Transmission

1944 Northern Ontario Power appropriated for C$12.5m

1946 French government nationalises French utility companies

1951 Paul Desmarais buys control of family's Sudbury Coppercliff Street Railway

1953 Winnipeg Electric appropriated by Manitoba Hydro-Electric Board

1955 Power Corp takes over Anglo-Canadian Oil

1957 increases stake in Shawinigan Water & Power

1958 Compagnie de Suez founded following nationalisation of Suez canal

Desmarais beginnings

1959 Desmarais creates Transportation Management Corporation Ltd

1960 acquires Provincial Transport Ltd

1961 British Columbia appropriates main assets of British Columbia Power for C$8m

1962 Power Corp sells Canadian Oil Companies stake to Shell for C$41m

1962 Desmarais gains control of Gelco Entreprises Ltd

1963 buys Imperial Life Assurance Company of Canada

1963 Quebec govt buys Power's Quebec electricity operations for C$19.3m

1963 Power buys 30% of Canadian Industrial Gase

1963 buys stake in Canada Steamship Lines (CSL)

1964 sells stake in Shell

1964 sells stake in Trans-Canada Pipe Lines

1965 Desmarais gains control of Corporations des valeurs trans-Canada conglomerate

1965 Chase Manhattan and Banque Bruxelles Lambert buy 49% of
Banque de Commerce in Belgium

1966 creation of Consolidated-Bathurst pulp and paper group

1967 creates Les Journaux Trans-Canada Ltée, acquire La Presse

1967 gains 25% stake in Investors Group (which has 25% of Montreal Trust)

Takes over Power

1968 takes control of the Power Corporation of Canada with 30% of votes

1968 stake in Travelodge Australia sold

1969 Desmarais' Provincial Transport sold to CSL

1969 Investors Group buys 51% of Great-West Life Assurance

1970 Power increases direct stake in Investors Group to over 50%

1970 Desmarais buys most of Power preferred stock (another 30% of votes) held by associate Peter Thomson

1970 Power gains 35% of Consolidated-Bathurst

1971 buys rest of CSL

1972 Investors Group increases direct stake in Montreal Trust to over 50%

1972 Power exchanges real estate interests for 52% interest in Campeau Corporation

1973 sells interests in Campeau to Robert Campeau

1973 increases stake in Les Journaux Trans-Canada to 100%

1973 buys daily tabloid Montréal-Matin

1974 abortive takeover of Abitibi Paper nets C$24m

1975 takeover bid for Argus Corporation

1976 increases Argus stake to over 50% of equity

1976 sells Davie Shipbuilding

1976 sells Laurentide Financial for stake in Banque Provinciale du Canada (later Banque Nationale du Canada)

1976 Drexel Burnham Lambert established

1977 Power sells Imperial Life after buying Imperial's stake in Investors Group

1977 increases voting stake in Investors Group to 72%

1978 increases voting stake to 99%

1978 sells Montréal-Matin

1978 sells Argus stake to Conrad Black for C$80.5m

Paribas and Pargesa

1978 Compagnie Financière de Paris et des Pays-Bas (Paribas) buys 20% of Power's equity

1979 Power buys 2.3% of Paribas

1981 Power sells CSL for C$195m

1981 buys 4.4% of voting shares of Canadian Pacific rail, shipping, oil and real estate conglomerate

1981 Paribas divests non-French holdings such as Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas (Suisse)

1981 Paribas nationalised

1981 Power takes C$20m stake in Pargesa Holding SA, parent of Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas (Suisse)

1984 Power's major financial holdings transferred to subsidiary Power Financial Corporation

1984 20% of Power Financial sold to banks, 10% floated

1985 sells Banque Nationale du Canada stake

1985 sells Canadian Pacific stake for C$187m

1986 Power Corp buys Ontario and Quebec radio and tv stations from Prades and Katenac, forms Power Broadcasting

1986 Power Corp and Consolidated-Bathurst form joint venture with CITIC

1988 Suez gains control of Société Générale de Belgique

1988 GBL buys Tractebel

1989 Power Corp sells Consolidated-Bathurst stake for C$1bn to Stone Container

1989 Chase Manhattan sells stake in Banque de Commerce of Belgium

1989 liquidation of Drexel Burnham Lambert

1989 Power Financial sells Montreal Trust stake to BCE for C$547m

1990 increases stake in Pargesa to 23%

1990 agrees to transfer Pargesa stake to Parjointco NV, joint venture with Frère-Bourgeois group

1993 Power Corp buys 19% of Southam for C$180m

1993 Power Broadcasting forms joint venture with Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)

1994 GBL buys 5% of Havas

CLT-UFA and Bertelsmann

1996 Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Télédiffusion (CLT) under Pargesa control merges with Bertelsmann broadcasting subsidiaries to form CLT-UFA

1996 merger of Lyonnaise des Eaux and Compagnie de Suez as Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux

1996 Hollinger buys Power Corp's 21.5% stake in Southam for C$294m

1996 Power Corp buys Paribas's shares in Power for C$326m, then cancels those shares

1996 GBL sells 24.7% interest in Belgian utility Tractabel SA for C$1.8bn, increases stake in Suez

1996 increases stake in Audiofina

1997 Great-West Lifeco pays C$3bn for London Insurance Group, parent of London Life Insurance

1998 Havas swaps stake in CLT-UFA for 40% of Groupe Bruxelles Lambert (GBL) subsidiary Audiofina

1999 Power Broadcasting radio and tv stations sold to Corus Entertainment for C$107.5m

2000 CLT-UFA merges with television arm of Pearson and GBL's Audiofina/Electrofina to become RTL

2000 WAZ sells stake in RTL

2000 Power joint venture with Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) sold to USA Networks Inc. for C$155m

2001 Pargesa subsidiary GBL gains 25% stake in Bertelsmann through sale of RTL stake

2001 merger of Electrofina and GBL

2004 Albert Frere buys 8% of Havas

2006 GBL agrees to sell its 25.1% stake in Bertelsmann back to Bertelsmann for €4.5bn