George Mann launched one of Canada's first hostile takeover bids.FRED LUM/The Globe and Mail
George Mann, one of Canada’s first corporate raiders, once quipped that he graduated from the school of pool on the way to a career as a deal maker. Mr. Mann died at home in Toronto on Aug. 2 at the age of 90 after suffering from prostate and bladder cancer.
Long before he overhauled his father’s real estate business and launched one of the country’s first hostile takeover bids, he learned to play the angles at billiards bars in midtown Toronto. He later got his start in business without ever graduating from high school.
George Stanley Mann was born in Toronto on Dec. 23, 1932. His mother, Elizabeth, was a homemaker, and his father, David, co-founded Toronto’s Mann and Martel Realty, serving the Jewish community, to which the Mann family belonged, and other immigrant groups. In 1960, the young man started working at his father’s company, which grew to become the largest residential real estate company at the time in Canada. The firm employed agents who spoke Italian, Chinese and other languages spoken by post-Second World War newcomers.
Six years after joining the business, Mr. Mann tried to take it public but the Toronto Real Estate Board shut down the idea. Instead, he bought a publicly traded trust company and merged it with the firm.
The regulatory debate over the merger raged for years, until finally Mr. Mann won approval to create United Trust Co. and sell mortgages and homes under one roof.
With his first wife, Saundra Sair (who predeceased him), he had two children: Tracy and Michael. On Saturday mornings, he would pile the children into his car to drive around Toronto’s surrounding towns in search of office space for new branches.
“He would sit and look at the street and look at the traffic,” his daughter, Tracy Mann Brody said in an interview. “That’s why it was good to go on a Saturday because that’s when everybody got things done. He would just pick out different properties and ask us, ‘So what do you think?’”
He later sold the business to rival Royal Trustco Ltd., which ultimately was scooped up by Royal Bank of Canada in 1993. For Mr. Mann, the saga sparked a lifelong infatuation with the financial services industry and contentious takeovers.
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In the 1970s, he got into business with Unity Bank, a lender founded by a Jewish lawyer whose vision was to create a bank to serve various ethnic communities. The idea failed because many of the bank’s intended customers didn’t want to do business with a smaller institution, believing that securing a loan with a major lender was a sign of success. Mr. Mann stepped in as chairperson and brokered a deal for the Provincial Bank of Canada – now National Bank of Canada – to buy Unity.
Returning to real estate, Mr. Mann embarked on one of his more creative endeavours. He invested in U.S. real estate investment trusts (REITs) when many of them had become insolvent, but to him they were undervalued assets. While the REITs were trading for pennies, Mr. Mann noticed that some had strong underlying real estate that was being painted with the same brush as collapsed mortgage trusts. The gamble made Mr. Mann millions of dollars.
He continued amassing an eclectic portfolio through Unicorp Canada Corp., his holding company that included a large Ontario gas utility, various banks, a book of U.S. commercial real estate and a Quebec grocery chain. Always in search of a deal, Mr. Mann excelled at identifying public companies that seemed undervalued. Some takeovers were unsuccessful, including his attempt to scoop up Dunkin’ Donuts.
Mr. Mann spent his mornings flipping through newspapers and magazines in search of his next idea or his next target.
After seeing the movie Bolero, he sought out a pay phone outside the theatre. He called Jim Leech, then president of Unicorp, to tell him about an idea he had while watching the film.
“His job was to generate 10 ideas a week – I’ve never seen anyone who could generate ideas like he could – and my job was to make sure that he didn’t do nine of them, and that we could then talk about the 10th,” former Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan chief executive officer Mr. Leech said in an interview.
Together, Mr. Mann and Mr. Leech launched one of the first truly hostile takeovers and most brutal corporate battles in Canadian history. In 1984, Mr. Mann launched a bid for Union Enterprises and its crown jewel, utility company Union Gas. The saga saw Darcy McKeough, former treasurer of Ontario – representing the old Canadian establishment – face off with members of the relatively new Jewish business community, perceived as outsiders.
During the bitter fight in front of the Ontario Securities Commission, Mr. Leech was tapped to lead Unicorp’s offensive, while Mr. Mann was asked to keep a low profile. After three days on the stand at the OSC hearing, Mr. Leech returned to the Unicorp office to find the lobby full of crates of artwork.
Mr. Mann, unable to attend the hearing or speak to anyone publicly, had read about a company that had gone into receivership and was selling its art collection. In those three days, he bought the lot and sold a third of it, recouping the cost of his purchase – and garnering a nice selection of art for Unicorp.
He later also won the battle for Union.
Mr. Mann retired in the early 1990s, selling off his holdings after Unicorp bumped up against issues with some of its U.S. investments.
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Known by his business colleagues and adversaries for his strong conviction, persistence and decisiveness, he redirected his endless energy into an active retirement with his family and friends. He whisked his grandchildren off to adventures in the far-flung reaches of the world and threw parties with celebrities for charity.
He spent much of his time in Florida, where he met Carla Harrod at the art gallery where she worked. The couple married and for the next 18 years they travelled to countries such as Italy, China and Argentina. Ms. Harrod Mann often tried to persuade him to join her on the dance floor.
And much like his approach in business, he never slowed down and never waited on someone else’s timeline. During a lengthy dinner out with Ms. Harrod Mann and some friends, the extensive tasting menu finally exhausted Mr. Mann’s patience. Declaring that he had tasted enough, he left the group to enjoy the rest of the dinner without him. When Ms. Harrod Mann returned home, she found Mr. Mann hovering in front of the microwave, warming a cheese sandwich.
“George was a leader, not a follower,” Ms. Harrod Mann said in an interview. “That was just his nature, and he hated hesitation and indecision.”
Mr. Mann was also predeceased by his brother, Peter. He leaves his wife, Ms. Harrod Mann, two children, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.