| overview
holdings
pargesa
chronology
|
overview
This page looks at the Desmarais and Power Corporation's
media interests.
It covers -
introduction
Power Corporation of Canada, controlled by the Desmarais
family, is a conglomerate with broadcasting, publishing
and financial services interests. It claims to be Canada's
number one French-language newspaper group and through
Pargesa had a 25% stake in Bertelsmann
as of 2005.
Through Gesca Ltée it publishes La Presse
and three other daily newspapers in Québec, with
other titles in Ontario. Gesca has book-publishing operations
and formerly operated television and radio stations in
Québec and Ontario. Power also had a major interest
in the Southam newspaper chain, sold to Conrad Black's
Hollinger.
The Power group's non-media interests include controlling
stakes in Great-West Lifeco, IMG Financial and Pargesa
Holding S.A (as of 2005 the latter had substantial investments
in Bertelsmann, Total, Suez and other groups).
It formerly embraced shipping and shipbuilding, road transport
and other interests. It also had substantial pulp, paper
and packaging interests through Consolidated-Bathurst
Inc, a major Canadian pulp and paper producer. The Consolidated-Bathurst
holding was sold to Stone Container for C$2.6 billion
(a 50% premium over its stock market capitalisation) at
the height of the Canadian resources boom in 1989. By
2006 Abitibi-Consolidated, North America's largest newsprint
producer through the mergers of Donohue (formerly controlled
by Quebecor), Abitibi-Price
and Stone-Consolidated, had a market capitalisation of
C$2.2 billion.
In 1989 Power also sold its controlling stake in Montreal
Trust to BCE, which unloaded the
financier to Scotiabank at a loss several years later.
the group
An indication of the holdings is here.
the founder
Paul Desmarais (1927- ) studied at the University of Ottawa
and McGill before working for Montréal accounting
firm Courtois, Fredette et Cie. In 1951 he began working
in the family's Sudbury-based bus company and a decade
later gained control of Provincial Transport.
In 1965 Desmarais took a controlling stake in Trans-Canada
Corp Fund and hence control of Montréal's major
French-language newspaper La Presse, the dominant
francophone radio station CKAC, Imperial Life assurance
in Toronto and other daily and weekly newspapers.
In 1968 Desmarais moved to control of conglomerate Power
Corporation, established in the 1920s as a hydroelectricity
producer. Power's interests grew to encompass two of Canada's
major mutual fund and trust funds (Investors Group and
Montreal Trust), life assurance (notably Great-West Life),
financial services and energy in Europe (Pargesa) and
paper (Consolidated-Bathurst).
publishing
[under development]
broadcasting
Power Broadcasting, the conglomerate's radio and television
arm (three commercial television stations and 17 radio
stations), was sold to Corus Entertainment Inc. in 2000
for C$107.5 million.
Power's joint venture with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
(CBC) - launched in 1993 - was sold
to USA Networks Inc. for C$155 million in 2000. The partnership
encompassed two US-based satellite-cable channels.
studies
Desmarais is profiled in David Greber's Rising to
Power: Paul Desmarais & Power Corporation (Toronto:
Methuen 1987).
For Power's early years see Keith Fleming's Power
at Cost: Ontario Hydro and Rural Electrification, 1911-1958
(Montreal: McGill-Queen's Uni Press 1992) and Neil Freeman's
The Politics of Power: Ontario Hydro and Its Government,
1906-1995 (Toronto: Uni of Toronto Press 1996). Samuel
Insull features in Forrest McDonald's Insull
(Chicago: Uni of Chicago Press 1962)
For CSL see Marci McDonald's 2004 Walrus article.
 next
page (holdings)
|
|
