Power Corporation of Canada

Power Corporation of Canada is a diversified international management and Canadian holding company. Through its subsidiary, Power Financial Corporation, it has interests in companies in the financial services sector in Canada, the United States and Europe. Through its subsidiary, Square Victoria Communications Group, it holds interest in companies from the communications and media sector. Power Corporation also holds and actively manages a portfolio of investments in the United States, Europe and Asia. The company manages assets of $1.22 trillion.

The corporation is known for its active participation in Canadian politics through its relationships and the relationships of the Desmarais family with prominent politicians of all political stripes.

History

Power Corporation of Canada was formed in 1925 by stockbrokers Arthur J. Nesbitt and his partner Peter A. T. Thompson. 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.