Ravelston Corporation Limited was a Canadian

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...

that was largely controlled by Conrad Black and business partner David Radler. At one time, it held a majority stake in Hollinger Inc., once one of the largest media corporations in the world. The company was placed into

receivership In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver – a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights" – especia ...

in 2005 and went

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the de ...

in 2008.

History

Ravelston was founded by a group of businessmen including Bud McDougald, Max Meighen and Conrad Black's father George Montegu Black. The company was a holding company for Argus Corporation. In 1978, Conrad Black took control with his brother of Ravelston after his father's death. Black later transformed Ravelston into a holding company which was the head of his global media empire in the 1980s and 1990s. The company was mostly owned by Black, who held a 67% share to Radler's 14%. At one time, Ravelston controlled 78% of Hollinger Inc.'s stock with Black as CEO and Chairman and Radler as President. Ravelston held shares in Conrad Black's holding companies, such as Hollinger International, now known as Sun-Times Media Group. The

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

-based private company had owned the

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Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was foun ...

'' and Toronto's ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper and the flagship publication of the American-owned Postmedia Network. It is published Mondays through Saturdays, with Monday released as a digital e-edition only.

'' newspapers. These papers were later sold, mostly to

Canwest Global Canwest Global Communications Corporation, which operated under the corporate name Canwest, was a major Canadian media conglomerate based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with its head offices at Canwest Place (now called 201 Portage). It held radio, ...

Demise

As a result of Black's and Radler's legal problems involving allegedly unauthorized 'non-compete' payments in the sale of Hollinger International newspapers, Ravelston entered into receivership in summer 2005. On April 20, 2005, Black and Radler resigned from Ravelston to facilitate a filing for bankruptcy protection. Black and four other executive were later convicted of fraud over the diversion of $6 million from Hollinger International. Ravelson was also charged with fraud by the US Attorney's office in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. In 2005, Ravelston was placed in the hands of court-appointed receiver RSM Richter. Richter negotiated a settlement of the charges on the company's behalf in 2007. In December 2008, the company went bankrupt.

References

Mass media companies of Canada Canadian companies disestablished in 2008 Black family (Canada) {{Canada-company-stub