Daryl Katz

Daryl Katz
Daryl Katz at the 2010 NHL Entry Draft
Born	Daryl Allan Katz (1961-05-31) May 31, 1961 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Residence	Edmonton, Alberta
Nationality	Canada
Ethnicity	Jewish
Education	Doctor of Jurisprudence Bachelor of Arts and Science
Alma mater	University of Alberta
Occupation	Chairman and CEO of the Katz Group
Known for	Owner of the Edmonton Oilers
Net worth	US $ 3.3 billion (March 2014)[1]
Spouse(s)	Renee Gouin

Daryl Allan Katz (born May 31, 1961) is a Canadian businessman. With an estimated net worth of $US 2.6 billion (as of March 2013), Katz was ranked by Forbes as the 11th wealthiest Canadian and 554th in the world. The Edmonton-based Katz is chairman and chief executive officer of The Katz Group of Companies, Canada's leading drug store operators with over 1,800 stores and owns and operates Canada's first mail-order pharmacy, Rexall Direct, one of Canada's largest institutional pharmacy operations, as well as the owner of the Edmonton Oilers. Katz is a former lawyer. He currently resides in Edmonton, Alberta.

Early life and education

Daryl Katz was born in 1961 in Edmonton, Alberta.^[2] His father was a pharmacist who founded Value Drug Mart in Edmonton in the 1970s.^[3] Daryl Katz attended the Jewish day school, Talmud Torah School during his elementary years and then graduated from Jasper Place High School.^[3][4] He then attended the University of Alberta, graduating with an arts degree in 1982 and with a law degree in 1985.^[3]

Career

After school, he worked for a time at the law firm, Shoctor, Mousseau and Starkman,^[3] and then started his own practice focusing on corporate and franchise law.^[4] In 1991, in a partnership with his father, Katz paid $300,000 for the Canadian rights to the U.S.-based Medicine Shoppe drugstore franchise which had over 1,000 stores in the USA.^[4] In 1992, they opened the first Medicine Shoppe store^[4] and founded the Katz Group of Companies which was to become the holding company for the group. In 1996, Katz purchased the storied but fading Rexall drugstore chain in Canada which at the time, only consisted of several dozen stores.^[4] The business grew and by 1998, the Katz Group consisted of 80 Rexall stores, 30 Medicine Shoppe outlets, and a few smaller independent retailers.^[4] In 1997, he purchased the Ontario-based, 143-store Pharma Plus drug store chain from the supermarket operator Oshawa Group for $100 million.^[4]

In 1999 he ventured into the U.S. with the purchase of the money-losing, $300 million in sales, Minnesota-based Snyders Drug Store chain; in 2001, he purchased the U.S.-based Drug Emporium big-box discount chain.^[4] His foray into the U.S. was not without failure: the Snyder's chain filed for bankruptcy in 2003 and its 25 stores were sold to Walmart.^[4] In 2004, Katz purchased the naming rights for ten years to the new $45-million Rexall Centre, a 12,500-seat tennis and entertainment complex on the campus of York University.^[4] In January 2012, he sold Drug Trading Co. and Medicine Shoppe Canada to the U.S.-based drug distributor McKesson Corporation for $1.2 billion. The sale represented about 10 per cent of the Katz Group's assets, shrinking the group's network of corporate-owned and franchised stores to 450 Rexall-branded outlets (down from its peak of 2,000 stores).^[4]

Purchase of Edmonton Oilers

In May 2007, Katz made a $145-million bid to buy the Edmonton Oilers franchise, which the owners of the team, the Edmonton Investors Group (EIG), quickly rejected, stating the team was not for sale.

In July 2007, he made another bid for the Oilers of $185-million, which was turned down by the Edmonton Investment Group (EIG) on August 7, 2007.^[5] On December 12, 2007, Katz made an offer of $188-million to the EIG. The Board of the EIG announced in January 2008 that it would again recommend to its shareholders to reject this latest bid.^[6]

On January 28, 2008, Katz increased his offer to $200 million and extended the acceptance deadline to February 5, 2008, at which time Katz was notified by the EIG that all its members agreed to sell the Oilers to him, pending league and financial approval.^[7] On June 18, 2008, Daryl Katz received the final OK from the National Hockey League to purchase the Edmonton Oilers, and then on July 2, 2008, he was officially announced as the owner of the Edmonton Oilers during a Press Conference at Rexall Place, where he was presented with an Edmonton Oilers Jersey with the number "08" and his last name patched onto the back.

Katz has hired a team of architects, engineers, consultants, and promoters to develop a plan for a new arena for the Oilers. Through a subsidiary of Katz Group, land in downtown Edmonton has been purchased. Katz envisions a sports and entertainment district. He has proposed to spearhead private development of condos, hotels, and entertainment venues in this area. Debate over government funding for the arena project is ongoing in Edmonton.^[8]

Facts and figures

Daryl Katz' net worth is reported at USD$2.6 Billion which makes him the 11th richest person in Canada.^[1] Through the Katz Group, he has business interests in retail pharmacies, pharmaceutical distribution, multiple sports teams, event production, and property development. The Katz Group also has naming rights to Rexall Place (Edmonton's NHL Hockey Arena).

Katz reportedly maintains a small circle of highly paid advisers who run Katz Group. Rexall Pharmacy is run from Ontario, while other subsidiaries of Katz group maintain private headquarters separate from Katz Group itself.^[9]

Through Rexall Sports - the sports division of the Katz Group - Daryl Katz owns four sports franchises.

Philanthropy

In October 2006 Katz announced a $7 million donation to the University of Alberta Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Faculty of Law. Matched by the province, the gift was the largest donation ever to a Canadian pharmacy school. The west wing of the Health Research Innovation Facility at the corner of 87th Avenue and 114th Street in Edmonton has been named The Katz Group Centre for Pharmacy and Health Research. In 2009 Katz donated $20 Million to Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto and founded The Daryl A Katz Centre For Urgent And Critical Care. Katz has also given "millions" to the Stollery Children's Hospital in Edmonton, as well as supporting public events.^[10]

Between 2005 and 2010, Katz and his wife have donated "over $50 million" to organizations and institutions across Canada.^[11][12]

Personal life

Katz is married to Renee Gouin.^[3] She is the daughter of Jean Yvon (Ivan) Gouin. In 1952, her father founded the North American Construction Group which became one of the largest mining and heavy construction companies in Canada.^[13][14]

Katz's riverfront mansion at 4 Valleyview Point in the Parkview neighbourhood, is one of the largest houses in Edmonton at 25,000 square feet (2,300 m²), and estimated to be worth C$20 million. The property overlooks the North Saskatchewan river valley, Hawrelak Park, and the downtown city skyline and is easily visible and instantly recognizable from the river valley's many trails. The great room is clad floor-to-ceiling in 90-kilogram (200 lb) blocks of ancient Italian limestone and with 9-metre (30 ft)-high windows framing a view of downtown.^[15] The property also features two swimming pools. For his kids, Katz bought the multi-million dollar house next to his, demolished it, and built a practice hockey rink.

Katz also owns homes in the US and British Columbia, one of them reportedly a near carbon copy of his Edmonton home.^[10]

References

External links

• The Katz Group of Companies
• Report on Business company snapshot
• Forbes.com profile
• Globeandmail.com article