Power Corporation of Canada

Power Corporation of Canada is a management and holding company that focuses on financial services in North America, Europe and Asia. Its core holdings are insurance, retirement, wealth management and investment management, including a portfolio of alternative investment platforms. History Power Corporation of Canada was formed in 1925 by two stockbrokers – Arthur J. Nesbitt and his partner, Peter A.T. Thomson. Nesbitt served as the company's first president. Power Corporation was created as a holding company to manage their substantial investments in public utility companies involved in the electrical power industry in Quebec's Eastern Townships, plus in the other Canadian provinces of Ontario, Manitoba, New Brunswick and British Columbia. In the latter part of the 1930s, the company acquired a controlling interest in Bathurst Pulp and Paper Company Ltd., and in 1938, Canadian Oil Companies Ltd., selling the latter to Shell Oil Company in 1962. In 1952, Arthur J. Nesbitt was succeeded as president by his son, Arthur Deane Nesbitt (1910–1978). The Nesbitt family sold most of its interest in Power Corporation to the Paul Desmarais group in 1968 and by 1970, no longer had any involvement. In 1975, Power Corporation attempted a takeover of the Argus Corporation holding company which had substantial interests in brewing, food retailing, farm implements manufacturing, paper products and other businesses. The Argus owners rejected the takeover attempt and decided to retain their voting shares, while 50% of the non-voting shares were purchased by Power Corp. In 1976, ten percent of the voting shares were sold by E.P. Taylor to Desmarais. Argus was eventually sold in 1978 to a Conrad Black-controlled firm. In 1989, corporation began supporting the Imagine Canada program.