Peter Thomson

"which they so excelled. They traded their assets to acquire control of Power. The deal worked this way: 1. Power created a special 5 percent second preferred share issue of 10,000,000 shares at $12 per share ($120 million total). 2. The number of 6 percent participating preferred shares — the ones that carried 10 votes each, and dictated control of the company — was increased. 3. Enough of the 5 percent second preferred shares were offered to Trans-Canada Corporation Fund shareholders on a one-for-one trade for Power to acquire all tccf shares. 4. Gelco received 57 percent of the Power second preferred shares offered for purchase of tccf; the remaining 43 percent of tccf shares were redeemed from their holders, making tccf a 100- percent owned and controlled Power subsidiary. 5. Then Peter Thomson traded a bit more than half of his 6-percent participating preferred shares of Power — the ones that carried 10 votes each — to Gelco on a two-for-three swap for the new 5- percent second preferred shares (with no votes). 6. The trade gave Desmarais voting rights through Gelco on Power’s board slightly greater than those of Thomson, who held his Power shares through a recently created holding company, Wamock- Hersey International, which held a number of Thomson’s non- Power investments. 7. Between them, Desmarais and Thomson controlled about 61 per¬ cent of Power’s votes and, consequently, Power’s board. 8. Desmarais became chairman and chief executive officer and Peter Thomson deputy chairman. 9. Desmarais and Thomson entered into a voting trust, whereby Thomson’s voting shares were voted by Desmarais."

"cutting and shaping. For some years, former ceo Peter Thomson had believed that technological advances would increase the leisure time of all people and spur development of leisure-services industries. So, during the early ’60s, Power bought into these industries."

"company that owned La Presse, Quebec’s most influential French newspaper. Step Four: Gelco paid Peter Thomson the $7.2 million for his Power shares from the $19 million it received from Power. Step Five: The remaining $12 million was applied against Gelco debt."