Empire Company
Canadian conglomerate
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Empire Company Limited is a Canadian conglomerate engaged mostly in food retail and corporate investments. Founded in 1963, the company is headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia and owns the Sobeys supermarket chain.[3] In total, the company owns, affiliates or franchises more than 1,500 stores; in addition to Sobeys, brands include Safeway, IGA, Foodland, Farm Boy, FreshCo, Thrifty Foods and Lawtons Drug.[4] In 1978, it formed the Empire Theatres subsidiary, originally owning a few cinemas in Atlantic Canada; in 2013, Empire Company sold the cross-Canada Empire Theatres subsidiary.
| Empire Company Limited | |
|---|---|
.svg){kind=logo} Logo since 2022 | |
| Type | Public |
| TSX: EMP.A | |
| Industry | Conglomerate/ Holding company |
| Founded | 1963 |
| Headquarters | , Canada |
Number of locations | 1500 stores, 350 retail fuel (2020) |
| Key people | Pierre St-Laurent, President and CEO |
| Brands | Compliments |
| Revenue |  $26.588 billion CAD (2019) |
| $1.112 billion CAD (2019) | |
| $0.613 billion CAD (2019) | |
| Total assets | $14.633 billion CAD (2019) |
| Total equity |  $3.924 billion CAD (2019)[1] |
Number of employees | 127,000 (2020)[2] |
| Subsidiaries | Sobeys Crombie REIT Safeway Farm Boy FreshCo Foodland Needs Convenience Lawtons IGA / IGA Extra Marché Bonichoix Marché Tradition Rachelle-Béry Thrifty Foods Pete's Frootique Big 8 Beverages Longo's |
| Rating | BB+ |
| Website | www |
Pierre St-Laurent is the president and CEO of Empire Company, appointed in November 2025.[5]
Acquisitions
Empire Company has a long history of acquisitions:
- 1976 Lawton's Drug Stores Limited, which operated 18 stores in Nova Scotia.
- November 1980 – July 1981 Empire acquires Sobey Holdings Limited, gaining a 50.97% stake in the company.
- February 1983 Empire ups its ownership of Hannaford Bros. Co., an American food retailer, to 25% (Sold in 2000)
- June 1987 Empire buys the remaining 49.03% of Sobeys, making it an entirely owned subsidiary. (Sold in 1998, re-bought in 2007)
- 1987 Empire buys out its partner in Empire Theatres, turning it into an entirely owned subsidiary.
- May 1988 Empire buys a 25% stake in Provigo.
- 1988 Empire acquires an additional 22% stake in Wajax, resulting in a total ownership of 45%.
- June 1989 Empire re-purchases the outstanding share of Atlantic Shopping Centres, making it an entirely owned subsidiary.
- December 1993 Empire Real Estate buys 64% of Halifax Developments, Ltd; making it an entirely owned subsidiary.
- December 1998 Empire buys Oshawa Group for $1.5 billion.
- January 2001 Empire Real Estate buys a 35.7% stake in Genstar Developmental Partnership for $29 million.
- February 2004 Sobey's acquires Commisso's Food Markets, and Empire Real Estate acquires Commisso's real estate for a total of $103.5 million.
- September 2005 Empire Theatres acquires 27 more theatres.
- August 2006 Sobey's acquires Achille de la Chevrotière Ltée, including its grocery chain of about 25 stores in Quebec and Ontario. This costs $79.2 million.
- July 15, 2007 Empire re-buys the remaining outstanding Sobey's share, making it once again an entirely owned subsidiary.
- September 2007 Sobeys buys Thrifty Foods for $256.6 million.
- 2011 Sobeys purchases 236 retail gas locations for $214.9 million in Québec and Atlantic Canada.[6]
- June 2013 Empire buys all of Safeway Canada's stores for $5.8 billion
- September 2018 Empire announces intent to buy Farm Boy stores in an $800 million deal.[7]
- March 2021 Empire announces it will buy 51% stake in Longo's and its Grocery Gateway e-commerce business for $357 million. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of Empire's 2022 financial year.[8]
Sales of Subsidiaries/Interests
- 1998 Empire sells 38% of Sobeys, putting it out on the public stock exchange.
- 2000 Empire sells its 25% stake in Hannaford Bros Co for $1.03 billion.
- March 2002 Empire sells Serca Foodservice to SYSCO for $411 million.
- June 2005 When Wajax became an income trust, Empire sold 2.875 million shares for $50.8 million.
- 2006 Empire sells 44 properties to Crombie REIT.
- April 2008 Empire sells another 61 properties to Crombie REIT
- 2011 Empire sells its remaining share of Wajax.
- June 2013 Empire announces the sale of Empire Theatres to Cineplex Entertainment and Landmark Cinemas. The aggregate gross purchase price paid to Empire Theatres in the two transactions was approximately $248 million in cash.[9][10]
- October 2013 Sale of Empire Theatres to Cineplex and Landmark is complete.
- August 2013 Sobeys sells the land of 68 Safeway locations to Crombie REIT for $900 million.
- Oct/Nov/Dec 2013 Sobeys announces the planned sale of 23 of its stores in Alberta in preparation to the Safeway acquisition; this move was required in order to satisfy the Competition Bureau.[11]
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