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By Steve Brearton
Illustration: Seth
Losing streak
Last summer’s announcement that Molson, Canada’s oldest brewer, planned to merge with US beer company Coors led to hand-wringing about the future of a Canadian business institution. It wasn’t the first time.
10,000 1,154 Number of unsecured creditors following the bankruptcy and 1993 sale of jeweler Henry Birks & Sons Ltd. to Italian china maker Borgosesia SpA. The 114-year-old Montreal firm failed following bitter squabbling among Birks family members.
1,000 Number of Tim Hortons doughnut shops sold to US fast food company Wendy’s International Inc. in 1995 for US$425 million. Ron Joyce, the owner of “Tims” becomes Wendy’s largest shareholder in the process.
334 Number of years Canada’s oldest firm — the Hudson’s Bay Co. — has been in business. Last August, retail firm Target Corp. was poised to purchase the billion-dollar company and end the Bay’s tenure as the oldest Canadian-controlled company.
300 Millions of people who had viewed Imax films since their founding in 1967. The large-format film company was bought by US investors in 1994 for US$100 million.
70 Percentage of NHL players who wore hockey equipment made by Canstar Sports in 1994. That same year US footwear giant Nike buys the Montreal-based firm and its iconic brand names — including Bauer and Cooper — for US$395 million.
24 Number of Stanley Cup championships won by the Montreal Canadiens when the team was purchased by US businessman George Gillett Jr. for $184 million in 2001. Molson breweries defended its sale of the club by noting no Canadian firms or individuals were interested.
 2.7 Dollars in billions that Belgian beer giant Interbrew SA paid for John Labatt Ltd. in 1995. Labatt, which sold 45% of all beer in Canada, was founded in 1847.
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