Grant Daniel MacDonald
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
33 Harbour Sq. 3239/3139, Toronto, ON CA M5J 2G2
416-363-0574
MACDONALD EARNED GETTY OIL COMPANY SHAREHOLDERS $4,000,000,000
The train clicks along in
the darkness ... ... ... as the dim light shines on financial papers with pages
of stocks seemingly never-ending. This was after a limo ride and
luncheon meeting at the exclusive cafe Fentons in Toronto with
the Chairman of Rank Organization's Canadian holdings, Derrick
Montague. At the 47th. floor offices of Rank Canada at Commerce
Court in Toronto ... I had initially advised the previous Rank
Canada, President, Peter Caspari, on the potential of going forward
with the development of
Sheppard Centre, a large office/residential development located
in the north area of Toronto comprising of three 28 storey
residential towers & two office towers. Mr. Caspari was intending to
retire after designing and developing the 34 storey
2 Bloor West
tower in Toronto. Mr. Montague agreed with my suggestion that if I
were to present an oil company ... that Rank may evaluate it
for possible acquisition. I had the privilege of meeting several
film industry insiders in Hollywood during my visits and was
inspired to become involved in producing films in California yet
needed the production funds. This was when I decided to take a train
ride out to western Canada after doing an intense fact finding
journey through Texas. On the train traveling across Canada ... I
pondered the ongoing flow of data until I came across a company
listed under the energy sector named Canadian Reserve. It
seemed like a good name. I'd have to check the data further
... on this one as well as several that I had added to my list of
possible candidates for a takeover. Coseka Resources, Trimac, Numac
and other corporate names reflected potential; yet until further
research went into their assets and financial structure, they would
only be names on a long list of companies. I liked the sound of
Canadian Reserve/Reserve Oil & Gas Company and since it was going to
be presented to Rank, they could hopefully relate to it. Each
stop on the route provided an opportunity to obtain more financials,
to allow me to scan the markets.
Then, upon arriving in Calgary, I was able to get the Annual Report from Canadian Reserve showing where their assets were and what the financial picture was like. It seemed as though they had vast holdings in the Pembina area of Alberta, which was one of the biggest deposits of oil in North America. After doing further research into the geological reports; I was impressed with the holdings and the financials looked solid. Canadian Reserve was worth $140,000,000 and would certainly make a nice division to own.
I called Petro-Canada and spoke with Maurice Strong, founder and Chairman of Petro-Canada, as well as Joel Bell, V.P. Also, I called Ottawa and spoke with The Honourable Donald Macdonald, Minister of Finance & The Honourable Allister Gillespie, Minister of Energy. I also called Conrad Black's, Argus Corporation and spoke with Mr. Edmison, Vice-President at Argus. I decided to make a call to Roman Corp./Denison Mines and after speaking with Charles Parmalee, V.P., I asked Tony Fell, from Dominion Securities, to please relay data over to Mr. Parmalee and Mr. Steven Roman. I had met with Tony Fell, Chairman & founding partner of Dominion Securities while in Toronto and indicated that I may be launching an oil company takeover and he stated that he would help in any way he could. Dominion Securities was eventually acquired by the Royal Bank of Canada and Tony Fell became Chairman of RBC Capital Markets.
My Harvard/Dartmouth honor grad attorney, Eric Haessler, agreed to meet with me in Vancouver in August and we eventually met at the Bayshore Inn, as we pondered the legalities that would have to faced before a meeting I had arranged in Denver with the President of Reserve, Paul D. Meadows. (I had initially met Eric socially in Hollywood and had learned that he had done legal work for Wayne Newton. Eric and I had dinner at L'Escoffier atop the Beverly Hilton and I was invited to meet Angie Dickinson.) Further to our meeting at the Bayshore in Vancouver ... Eric suggested that we have a subsequent meeting in Seattle where he owned a forestry corporation and I initially booked a flight from Seattle to Denver for September 6th … but Eric insisted we drive to Portland. Eric was kind enough to allow me to use his corporate offices in Portland to handle any last minute details, in preparation for my four o'clock, September 9, 1977, meeting in Denver. Upon my arrival at the Reserve offices in Denver, I met with Mr. Meadows and Mr. Green, V.P. of Reserve, whereupon we discussed the possibility of me presenting Reserve with an acquisition bid. I then flew to Los Angeles and after speaking with Mr. Montague from Rank, he said he was flying to London, England and would present the situation to Rank; but it may be something that Rank would be unable to acquire at this time. He did mention that he was aware of the wealthy Winssinger family in Bakersfield, who may be interested in such an entity. After several calls, I was able to speak with the Winssinger family, whereupon, I arranged an appointment to meet with them; at one o'clock Oct. 4, 1977. Eric Haessler and I met at the Bakersfield airport and a young gentleman from the family, met us at the airport. As we drove across the landscape, the driver pointed to the horizon and stated that they owned all the land up to the mountains, as oil rigs pumped oil from the land as we drove on. Reginald Winssinger ... declined to make a bid, and stated that the family was more interested in investment land in Beverly Hills. Then; back to Los Angeles. After several days, on Oct. 10, 1977, I decided to call Getty Oil Company to speak with their executive level, to see whether they might be interested in acquiring Reserve. I put together data and had it relayed to Harold Berg, Chairman of Getty Oil, as well as to Robert Talboy, a key executive in charge of production. I later called each office and confirmed its arrival and spoke with Robert Talboy, on Oct. 11, 1977 at one o'clock, at great length, as he stated that Getty Oil Company would evaluate the data on Reserve ... as I stressed the vast potential of the oil saturated area of Pembina, Alberta, Canada; based on my geological studies.
At two o'clock, on Oct. 11, 1977, I called the Denver office of Reserve, President, Mr. Meadows; minutes later, the offices of Eric Haessler, my attorney and immediately thereafter, called the Los Angeles office, of Reserve, Chairman, John R. MacMillan, to establish that Reserve was officially presented to Getty Oil Company. Mr. MacMillan was somewhat shocked to hear that Reserve was put on the street, as it were ... but I assured him that it was handled with the ultimate level of dignity. UCLA Professor Emeritus Gene Levine & I would later dine at MOONSHADOWS in Malibu as the Pacific Ocean waves crashed under the pier ... visualizing the distinct possibility of a Reserve/Getty merger; this after visiting the J. Paul Getty Museum and comprehending the potential of Reserve and what a perfect match Reserve & Getty would make. Meanwhile, Denison Mines from Toronto, decided to make a bid at $27.50 U.S., a share ... worth $525,000,000. Shortly thereafter, Getty Oil Company offered Denison Mines, $10,000,000 to withdraw their bid in anticipation of a bid for Reserve. Getty made its $620,947,000 acquisition bid only after Reserve definitively agreed to be acquired by Denison Mines of Toronto. Getty Oil Company was worth $6,500,000,000 in 1982 and based on the eventual Texaco Inc. takeover of Getty Oil Company, at over $10,000,000,000 and with the subsequent market value increase of Reserve Oil & Gas Company within Getty; Reserve earned the Getty Oil Company shareholders ... adjusted for inflation, $4,000,000,000 in profit. This earned Gordon Getty, $402,000,000; J. Paul Getty II, (KBE), $402,000,000; Ronald Getty $402,000,000; the three Getty nieces, Anne Getty Earhart, Claire Getty Perry & Caroline Getty; $402,000,000 and J. Paul Getty Trust, $880,000,000.
Reserve Agreements
Then, upon arriving in Calgary, I was able to get the Annual Report from Canadian Reserve showing where their assets were and what the financial picture was like. It seemed as though they had vast holdings in the Pembina area of Alberta, which was one of the biggest deposits of oil in North America. After doing further research into the geological reports; I was impressed with the holdings and the financials looked solid. Canadian Reserve was worth $140,000,000 and would certainly make a nice division to own.
I called Petro-Canada and spoke with Maurice Strong, founder and Chairman of Petro-Canada, as well as Joel Bell, V.P. Also, I called Ottawa and spoke with The Honourable Donald Macdonald, Minister of Finance & The Honourable Allister Gillespie, Minister of Energy. I also called Conrad Black's, Argus Corporation and spoke with Mr. Edmison, Vice-President at Argus. I decided to make a call to Roman Corp./Denison Mines and after speaking with Charles Parmalee, V.P., I asked Tony Fell, from Dominion Securities, to please relay data over to Mr. Parmalee and Mr. Steven Roman. I had met with Tony Fell, Chairman & founding partner of Dominion Securities while in Toronto and indicated that I may be launching an oil company takeover and he stated that he would help in any way he could. Dominion Securities was eventually acquired by the Royal Bank of Canada and Tony Fell became Chairman of RBC Capital Markets.
My Harvard/Dartmouth honor grad attorney, Eric Haessler, agreed to meet with me in Vancouver in August and we eventually met at the Bayshore Inn, as we pondered the legalities that would have to faced before a meeting I had arranged in Denver with the President of Reserve, Paul D. Meadows. (I had initially met Eric socially in Hollywood and had learned that he had done legal work for Wayne Newton. Eric and I had dinner at L'Escoffier atop the Beverly Hilton and I was invited to meet Angie Dickinson.) Further to our meeting at the Bayshore in Vancouver ... Eric suggested that we have a subsequent meeting in Seattle where he owned a forestry corporation and I initially booked a flight from Seattle to Denver for September 6th … but Eric insisted we drive to Portland. Eric was kind enough to allow me to use his corporate offices in Portland to handle any last minute details, in preparation for my four o'clock, September 9, 1977, meeting in Denver. Upon my arrival at the Reserve offices in Denver, I met with Mr. Meadows and Mr. Green, V.P. of Reserve, whereupon we discussed the possibility of me presenting Reserve with an acquisition bid. I then flew to Los Angeles and after speaking with Mr. Montague from Rank, he said he was flying to London, England and would present the situation to Rank; but it may be something that Rank would be unable to acquire at this time. He did mention that he was aware of the wealthy Winssinger family in Bakersfield, who may be interested in such an entity. After several calls, I was able to speak with the Winssinger family, whereupon, I arranged an appointment to meet with them; at one o'clock Oct. 4, 1977. Eric Haessler and I met at the Bakersfield airport and a young gentleman from the family, met us at the airport. As we drove across the landscape, the driver pointed to the horizon and stated that they owned all the land up to the mountains, as oil rigs pumped oil from the land as we drove on. Reginald Winssinger ... declined to make a bid, and stated that the family was more interested in investment land in Beverly Hills. Then; back to Los Angeles. After several days, on Oct. 10, 1977, I decided to call Getty Oil Company to speak with their executive level, to see whether they might be interested in acquiring Reserve. I put together data and had it relayed to Harold Berg, Chairman of Getty Oil, as well as to Robert Talboy, a key executive in charge of production. I later called each office and confirmed its arrival and spoke with Robert Talboy, on Oct. 11, 1977 at one o'clock, at great length, as he stated that Getty Oil Company would evaluate the data on Reserve ... as I stressed the vast potential of the oil saturated area of Pembina, Alberta, Canada; based on my geological studies.
At two o'clock, on Oct. 11, 1977, I called the Denver office of Reserve, President, Mr. Meadows; minutes later, the offices of Eric Haessler, my attorney and immediately thereafter, called the Los Angeles office, of Reserve, Chairman, John R. MacMillan, to establish that Reserve was officially presented to Getty Oil Company. Mr. MacMillan was somewhat shocked to hear that Reserve was put on the street, as it were ... but I assured him that it was handled with the ultimate level of dignity. UCLA Professor Emeritus Gene Levine & I would later dine at MOONSHADOWS in Malibu as the Pacific Ocean waves crashed under the pier ... visualizing the distinct possibility of a Reserve/Getty merger; this after visiting the J. Paul Getty Museum and comprehending the potential of Reserve and what a perfect match Reserve & Getty would make. Meanwhile, Denison Mines from Toronto, decided to make a bid at $27.50 U.S., a share ... worth $525,000,000. Shortly thereafter, Getty Oil Company offered Denison Mines, $10,000,000 to withdraw their bid in anticipation of a bid for Reserve. Getty made its $620,947,000 acquisition bid only after Reserve definitively agreed to be acquired by Denison Mines of Toronto. Getty Oil Company was worth $6,500,000,000 in 1982 and based on the eventual Texaco Inc. takeover of Getty Oil Company, at over $10,000,000,000 and with the subsequent market value increase of Reserve Oil & Gas Company within Getty; Reserve earned the Getty Oil Company shareholders ... adjusted for inflation, $4,000,000,000 in profit. This earned Gordon Getty, $402,000,000; J. Paul Getty II, (KBE), $402,000,000; Ronald Getty $402,000,000; the three Getty nieces, Anne Getty Earhart, Claire Getty Perry & Caroline Getty; $402,000,000 and J. Paul Getty Trust, $880,000,000.
Reserve Agreements