Michael Tims, centre, chairman of Peter’s & Co., announced his retirement from the company Monday in Calgary.Todd Korol/The Globe and Mail
One of Canada's most respected investment bankers, Mike Tims, is calling it at day after more than three decades at Calgary-based energy house Peters & Co. Ltd.
The good news for Peters is that its outgoing chairman has pledged not to sign up with any of the independent brokerage's rivals after he retires at the end of this year.
Instead, the affable executive plans to devote his time to some of his non-profit organizations and causes, including his role as the chairman of the board of trustees at the National Gallery of Canada.
Mr. Tims, 59, is a fixture in Canadian energy and finance circles, and was named this year as one of Alberta's 50 most influential people by Alberta Venture magazine.
He held a number of senior roles since joining Peters in 1980, nine days before the Pierre Trudeau Liberal government's announcement of the protectionist national energy program.
At the time, Peters was a tenant in a small building on Calgary's 4th Ave. that housed a Hy's Steak House. Mr. Tims pointed out in a letter to staff that the office has returned to the same real estate, albeit in the glimmering new Jamieson Place tower that now occupies it.
Peters CEO Chris Potter said Mr. Tims ushered in the firm's leap into the big leagues, leading the corporate finance team that advised Alberta Energy Co. Ltd. in its $1.1-billion acquisition of Conwest Exploration in 1996, at the time one of the country's largest exploration and production transactions.
Mr. Tims said he aims to be "60-per-cent busy" after he steps down, rather than "160-per-cent busy."
"At this point, I can't say whether my next phase of life will involve corporate boards , or a part-time role doing something else, or some of each," he wrote. "I am actually very excited to see what will come next. We definitely should think about a better word than 'retirement' for what I am now about to undertake."
His stepping aside comes as he completes a sell-down of his shareholdings in Peters, a process he started five years ago. The firm has used mandatory sell-downs of holdings of senior management for the past two decades as a way to pass economic and management responsibilities to younger principals, a practice which Mr. Tims says helps attract and retain good people and keeps the firm "vibrant and growing."
He plans to hold a "buy-out meal" for the firm's partners and staff before he steps down in December.
Jeffrey Jones