Robert Schad, the entrepreneur who started Husky Injection Molding System Ltd. in a Toronto garage more than half a century ago, has set the stage for a sale of his company.
The man who came to Canada in 1950 with $25 in his pocket and a letter of reference from Albert Einstein just hopes his "baby" will be sold to buyers who understand the company's culture.
"It's a mixed feeling," he said. "On one side it's satisfaction and on the other side I'm hoping it goes the right way. . . . I just hope it gets into the right hands."
Husky said yesterday that it began exploring a potential sale after Mr. Schad, 78, decided to unload his 44-per-cent stake in the company. Its market capitalization is about $879-million.
The company, which makes machines that shape plastic into containers such as Coca-Cola or Evian bottles, has won numerous workplace and environmental plaudits,
Mr. Schad acknowledged that Husky has already been approached by several interested parties, especially in the past year. "We have bidders from different fields," he said. Investors sent the share price soaring 27 per cent, the biggest jump in six years, with speculation that either global manufacturers or private equity groups are the most likely buyer.
"It's no surprise - everything seems to be for sale at a price," said Robert Tattersall, executive vice-president at Howson Tattersall Investment Counsel, which holds several million Husky shares.
Industry sources said the most logical bidders would be a big foreign-based moulding machine maker such as Krauss-Maffei of Germany, or Asian companies such as Mitsubishi or Toshiba.
Husky employs 3,300 people around the world.
It has its main manufacturing base in Bolton, Ont., a town north of Toronto. It also has facilities in Vermont, Luxembourg and Shanghai.
Like other manufacturers, Husky's been hit by a strong Canadian dollar and rising costs. The company said yesterday that second-quarter fell 12 per cent. It cut 85 Bolton jobs and warned of more cost cuts on the way.
It's one of the largest, and most respected, companies in its field. But it's also known for a culture that includes an on-site daycare, free massages, healthy cafeteria food and a gleaming work environment.
Now, Mr. Schad says he's turning to the cause dearest to his heart: the environment. A well-known philanthropist, he wouldn't specify how much he'll pour into environmental education, saying it's a private matter. But he makes it clear he wants to focus on solutions to environmental challenges.
"Given the urgent need that comes from climate change and global warming, he feels that a significant investment is required to find solutions for a more sustainable lifestyle," said his company's spokesman and a Husky shareholder Dirk Schlimm.
To that end, he wants to expand Earth Rangers, the environmental education organization he founded eight years ago. A spokesman at Earth Rangers said Mr. Schad is already spending about 70 per cent of his time working with the group, which plans to expand nationally and globally in the coming years.
Mr. Schad's daughter Katherine Willow - a naturopathic doctor who operates a clinic near Ottawa - said she didn't know until yesterday that her father was contemplating selling the company.
That's the way he has always operated, clearly separating the family from the business. "I don't expect him to talk to me about business," she said from her home. "He makes the lines very clear and we [the children]accept that."
Mr. Schad has said he never encouraged his three adult children to work in the company and has always been skeptical of the idea of passing a business from one generation to another.
Ms. Willow said her father probably approached the potential sale as he always does in business matters - what is best for his company?
He would be hoping a new owner would bring "more variety, more diversity, more income. That's the way his mind works," she said.
But she also said that Mr. Schad's preference would be for a new owner who could carry on the values he has stood for - employee wellness, the environment and progressive working conditions. "He can pick and choose," she said, adding that "he has a lot of values tied up in that company."
She said she is a shareholder, but would not comment on how much the family might gain financially from any deal.
Ms. Willow is one of three children from his first marriage. Her sister Lili is a filmmaker on the West Coast and brother Mark runs a machine shop in Vancouver. Robert Schad has a younger son with his current wife, Elizabeth.
With files from Greg Keenan
Tavia Grant