Irving Group of Companies

The Irving Group of Companies is an informal name given to those companies owned and controlled by the descendants of Canadian industrialist K.C. Irving, namely his children J.K. (b. 1928), Arthur (b. 1930), and Jack (1932–2010) and their respective children.

Ownership structure

Many of the components of the Irving Group of Companies were established or acquired by K.C. Irving during his period of active entrepreneurship between the 1920s and the 1970s. Following his retirement to Bermuda in the 1970s, the conglomerate was operated by his three sons in much the same manner and remained relatively intact and maintained a strong vertical integration. The companies were roughly divided into similar divisions, each controlled by one of K.C. Irving's sons and their respective children.

  • James K. Irving (b. 1928) (also known as "J.K.") – ownership and responsibility for J.D. Irving, Limited and its subsidiaries. This conglomerate has interests in several industries including forestry, integrated forest products, building supplies, frozen food, transportation, shipping lines, and shipbuilding.
  • Arthur Irving (b. 1930) (also known as "Art") - ownership and responsibility for Irving Oil and its subsidiaries. This conglomerate has ownership of its retail stores, oil refineries, oil tankers and distribution terminals and facilities.
  • John E. Irving (1932–2010) (also known as "Jack") – This conglomerate has ownership of “Ocean Capital” which includes companies such as, Commercial Properties, OSCO Construction Group, Source Atlantic and Acadia Broadcasting, Limited.

J.D. Irving, Limited
  • Irving Forest Products & Services
  • Irving Pulp & Paper Ltd.
  • Irving Paper Ltd.
  • Irving Tissue Co. Ltd.
  • Lake Utopia Paper
  • Irving Sawmill Division
  • Irving Woodlands Division
  • JDI Integrated Logistics (formerly Irving Transportation Services)
  • Midland Transport
  • Midland Courier
  • RST Industries
  • Sunbury Transport
  • Atlantic Towing
  • Kent Line
  • JDI Logistics
  • Harbour Development
  • Irving Retail & Distribution Services
  • Chandler
  • Kent Building Supplies
  • Kent Homes
  • Universal Truck & Trailer
  • Shamrock Truss
  • Atlas Structural Systems
  • J&H Industries
  • Economy Drywall
  • Cavendish Agri Services
  • Irving Consumer Products
  • Irving Tissue (Royale, Majesta, Scotties (U.S.), private labels)
  • Irving Personal Care (diapers, training pants)
  • Cavendish Produce (fresh vegetables)
  • Cavendish Farms (frozen potato processing)
  • Indian River Farms
  • Riverdale Foods
  • Master Packaging
  • Industrial Equipment & Construction
  • Irving Wallboard
  • Gulf Operators
  • Irving Equipment (crane rental, heavy lifting, specialized transportation, pile driving and project management services)
  • CFM
  • Specialty Printing
  • Plasticraft
  • Personnel Services
  • Protrans Personnel Services Inc.
  • Security Services
  • Industrial Security Inc.
  • Amateur Sports
  • Former subsidiaries
  • Acadian Lines Ltd.
  • SMT (Eastern) Ltd. Bus Lines
  • Saint John City Transit
  • Irving Industrial Rentals
  • Lexi-Tech International
  • Barrington Environmental Services
  • Barrington Industrial Services
  • Commercial Equipment
  • Maritime Tire
  • M.I.T.I (Xwave)
  • Hawk Communications
  • Steel and Engine Products Ltd.
  • Scot Truck
  • MITV (now CIHF-DT and CHNB-DT)
  • CHSJ-TV (now CBAT-DT)

Irving Oil, Limited
  • Irving Refineries
  • Irving Energy Services Ltd. (home heating fuel)
  • Irving Energy Distribution and Marketing
  • Irving Propane (formerly named Atlantic Speedy Propane)
  • Irving Aviation (supplier of aviation fuel & ownership of FBO’s in Newfoundland)
  • Portage Energy Limited
  • Override
  • Canaport (deepwater ultra large crude carrier terminal)
  • Canaport LNG (25% partner in deepwater liquified natural gas terminal, 75% held by Repsol YPF)
  • Irving Blending & Packaging (automotive & commercial vehicle lubricants and degreasers)
  • Over 1100 retail locations throughout Eastern Canada and New England including several Big Stops
  • A fleet of tractor-trailers delivering a variety of fuels to its wholesale, commercial and retail customers
  • Over a dozen regional distribution terminals

Ocean Capital
  • Source Atlantic (a group of several companies Gilco Bearings, Mobile Valve, Thornes, CFM Rigging, NL Eldridge, Schooner Industrial, Millennium Welding, Moore Industrial Edmonton Regina Saskatoon Winnipeg and Calgary)
  • PetroService, Limited
  • Commercial Properties Limited
  • OSCO Construction Group
    • Steel
      • Ocean Steel Ltd. (structural steel & rebar)
      • Ocean Steel Corp. (structural steel)
      • Allstar Rebar
      • York Steel
    • Concrete
      • Strescon Ltd. (prestressed cast concrete)
      • Borcherdt Concrete Products
      • OSCO Concrete
      • OSCO Aggregates
    • Construction (commercial, institutional and industrial construction)
      • FCC Construction & Engineering
      • Marque Construction
  • Acadia Broadcasting Ltd. (formerly New Brunswick Broadcasting Company)
A selection of the 15 radio stations owned and operated by Acadia Broadcasting
  • Northwoods Broadcasting Ltd.

Criticisms

Irving companies are private companies; as a result, there is less public information available as there would be for publicly traded corporations. This lack of transparency has led to significant criticism regarding Irving business activities.

Irving companies are often criticized for their vertical integration. Examples of vertical integration within the "Irving Group of Companies" (as the Irving family refers to their holdings) include the acquisition or formation of businesses along the entire chain of production, from the Irving refinery (an Irving Oil subsidiary) and its retail outlets, to the transportation subsidiaries of J.D. Irving (RST, Midland, NB Southern, Sunbury), to various construction and engineering companies that assist in building, maintaining and expanding the conglomerate's facilities. Further examples of vertical integration within the conglomerate include Industrial Security Ltd. (ISL), the wholly owned security company that guards facilities, as well as industrial suppliers such as Thornes, Universal Sales and Commercial Equipment Ltd. which provide specialty goods and services to its companies. J.D. Irving, the sister firm to Irving Oil, is a dominant forestry company in northeastern North America, growing trees, harvesting trees and producing lumber, pulp and paper, and various enhanced value products such as glossy paper grades, tissue, and personal care products.

The Dominion newspaper, an independent Canadian newspaper, has criticized Irving's ownership of Brunswick News, which published most newspapers in New Brunswick, as well as the newspapers' journalistic integrity, particularly when reporting on companies controlled by the Irving family such as Irving Oil.[1][2][3] Canadian Business magazine wrote in a profile of the Irving Group in 2008, "A Senate committee that recently probed media ownership in Canada expressed concerns about the family’s near-monopoly over the province’s print media and "the implications of a dominant media force linked to a dominant industrial base." While a Brunswick News official denied any pro-Irving bias in the papers’ coverage, the committee’s 2006 report cited other witnesses who feared that Irving journalists exercise restraint and self-edit when writing about the family — "unconscious loyalty to the parental control," as one put it."

In 2003, there were accusations of Irving family political patronage, notably involving Allan Rock and Claudette Bradshaw of the Liberal Party of Canada.[4]

In 2016, the National Observer released an eight-part investigation on the family called House of Irving. It looked at many parts of the businesses including the expansion into Maine, its media monopoly, how they intimidate their critics and issues within the family.[5]

References
  1. Steuter, Erin (November 10, 2003). "Freedom of the Press is for Those Who Own One". The Dominion. Retrieved May 3, 2014.
  2. "Feds must examine Irving media empire: Fraser". CBC News. 12 October 2007. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  3. "Rich 100: Inside Irving - Canadian Business - Your Source For Business News". 2008-12-22. Retrieved 2016-07-15.
  4. "Rock disregarded ethics ruling to advance Irvings' cause". National Post. October 20, 2003.
  5. "House of Irving". National Observer. Retrieved 2020-06-06.
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