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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Winnipeg's Gendis seeks new ventures
James Cohen
JAMES Cohen is here to tell you Gendis Inc. is not going anywhere.
The CEO of the Winnipeg holding company that's in its ninth decade in business said the firm is generating cash, has a modest, yet solid asset base and is looking to venture into new territory.
After the death of Gendis's founder and James's father, Albert Cohen, last fall, James is at the helm of the investment firm that has holdings in the oil and gas sector and real estate.
"I'm really excited about where we're at," Cohen said on the eve of the company's annual meeting, which is being held today in Winnipeg. "We've got assets of about $85 million, no debt and a public listing which in itself is worth millions."
However, the company is a shadow of its former self. It once boasted co-ownership of Sony Canada and operated Saan Stores, a chain of budget retail stores across the country.
Its shares in Sony Canada were sold back to the Japanese company in 1995 and Saan Stores declared bankruptcy a decade later.
But Gendis -- 73 per cent controlled by the Cohen family -- kept ownership in a few store locations it owned, with about 500,000 square feet of space, which continue to operate profitably.
It has three holdings in the oil business, including about two million shares in Veresen Inc., formerly Fort Chicago, a pipeline company in which Gendis was an early investor.
Its other significant holding is in OSUM Oilsands Corp., a privately held Alberta company active in the oilsands and earlier this year it put $2 million into Oak Point Energy Ltd., a Calgary energy and facility-design company.
Cohen said the company is looking to expand into the agri-business sector.
Last fall, Gendis got an $11.2-million windfall from a Canada Revenue Agency settlement, issued a 25-cent special dividend in January and last September initiated 2.5-cent quarterly dividends -- the first time the company has paid dividends since 1999.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition June 8, 2012 B6
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