Corporate History
Oxford Leaseholds was established in 1960 in Edmonton by Don Love and John and George Poole, founders of PCL Construction. In the early days of the company’s formation the partners decided there was a need for a medical clinic, and vowed to make it happen. Seven years and a few buildings later, Great-West Life, Confederation Life Insurance Co. and Canada Trust Co. became equity partners.
To reflect its growing desire to develop towers as well as operate them, the company changed its name to Oxford Development Group. The firm entered the 1970s as a publicly traded company, with an offering on the Toronto Stock Exchange, with its assets surpassing $1 billion. At the time, large acquisitions included Y&R Properties portfolio and 25 shopping centres from Cambridge Leaseholds.
A decade later, a new ownership structure was introduced as Oxford went private in 1980 in a management-led leveraged buyout. To pay for the deal, it sold its shopping centres. The decade didn't pass quietly however, with assets rising above $3 billion. Oxford Properties set up its headquarters in Toronto's Richmond-Adelaide Centre, and sold its U.S. business to BCE Development Corp. Next came a division of companies, the organization split in two - Oxford Properties Canada Ltd. put the company's real estate back in public hands, and Oxford Development Group stayed private and managed all of the company’s real estate.
Eight years later, the two companies merged and once again went public with help from a $60 million investment from a Hong Kong investor. The company made significant real estate investments buying entire portfolios from Marathon, Greiner-Pacaud, Hammerson Canada, Royal Bank and the Canderel Group.
OMERS took Oxford private in 2001. Now, with $16-billion in assets the company is looking to further expand into the Northeastern United States and London.
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