relies too much on references to primary sources . please improve this by adding secondary or tertiary sources . september 2007 learn how and when to remove this template message katz group of companies type private industry pharmacy sports & entertainment real estate development founded edmonton alberta 1990 founder daryl katz headquarters edmonton alberta canada key people daryl katz chairman owner daryl katz number of employees 8 600 2012 1 subsidiaries rexall health oilers entertainment group katz group properties website katzgroup.ca the katz group of companies is one of canada s largest privately owned enterprises with operations in pharmacy sports & entertainment and real estate development . katz group pharmacies inc. employs over 8 600 people and owns and operates more than 460 rexall and rexall pharma plus locations across central and western canada . oilers entertainment group oeg a subsidiary of the katz group owns the national hockey league five time stanley cup champion edmonton oilers as well as professional hockey franchises in the american hockey league western hockey league and echl and aquila productions one of canada s leading entertainment and event companies . oeg will operate rogers place when it opens its doors in downtown edmonton in 2016 . katz group is also involved in land assembly site and building development in canada and the united states including the design and development of ice district an area encompasses more than 25 acres anchored by rogers place . 2 katz group is based in edmonton alberta . its founder and chairman is daryl katz . contents 1 rexall health 2 history of pharmacy business 3 purchase of edmonton oilers 3.1 sports venues with rexall naming rights 4 real estate development 4.1 rogers place and ice district 5 references 6 external links rexall health edit katz group s pharmacy business and health related companies operate under the newly established banner rexall health . 3 rexall health includes the following independently operated businesses rexall rexall pharma plus a canadian retail pharmacy chain operating under the 100 year old rexall banner . the chain employs over 8 600 people at more than 460 locations across canada medicentres canada a group of family health care clinics where family physicians and specialists provide health care services to people in edmonton calgary london and windsor claimsecure inc. an industry leading healthcare management and technology firm that provides customized health benefit claims management and plan administrative services to canadian corporations and other health benefit plan sponsors on may 28 2015 j rgen schreiber was named ceo of rexall health . 3 schreiber was president and ceo of canadian retailer shoppers drug mart from 2007 to 2011 . prior to joining katz group schreiber served for four years as president and ceo of edcon group the largest non food retailer in south africa with 1 400 stores and approximately 20 000 employees across africa . in march of 2016 katz sold rexall to mckesson corporation for 3 billion canadian . history of pharmacy business edit in 1991 in a partnership with his father barry katz daryl katz paid 300 000 for the canadian rights to the u.s. based medicine shoppe drugstore franchise which had over 1 000 stores in the usa . 4 his father was a pharmacist who founded the value drug mart chain in edmonton in 1978 . 5 katz obtained financing from vencap equities a venture capital fund established by the alberta government in support local entrepreneurs . 4 daryl later stated if my father wasn t in the business and didn t have a history i would never have succeeded in getting it . 4 in 1992 katz group opened the first medicine shoppe store . 4 in 1996 it purchased the fading rexall drugstore chain in canada which at the time only consisted of several dozen stores . 4 six years after the first medicine shoppe was opened katz group s pharmacy operation consisted of 80 rexall stores 30 medicine shoppe outlets and a few smaller independent retailers . 4 in 1997 it purchased the ontario based 143 store pharma plus drug store chain from the supermarket operator oshawa group for 100 million . 4 in 1999 it ventured into the u.s. with the purchase of the money losing minnesota based snyders drug store chain which had 300 million in sales . in 2001 it purchased the u.s. based drug emporium big box discount chain . 4 the snyder s chain filed for bankruptcy in 2003 and its 25 stores were sold to walgreens . 4 on january 30 2012 katz agreed to sell its drug trading company ltd. to mckesson corporation for approximately 920 million in cash . 6 drug trading company is a marketing and purchasing arm for a network of over 850 independent pharmacies that primarily operate under the i.d.a. and guardian brands and medicine shoppe canada inc. the sale represented about 90 per cent of the katz group s assets shrinking the group s network of corporate owned and franchised stores to 450 rexall rexall pharma plus stores . 4 additionally on january 30 2012 katz acquired the 18 store dell pharmacies chain that operates in the hamilton ontario area . dell joined the rexall chain effective with the announcement . 7 regarding the deal national bank financial analyst vishal shreedhar suggested that ... katz group wants to exit the small pharmacy focused independent franchise business because it is most impacted by recent drug reforms . in contrast katz group s corporate store business approx . 420 stores benefits from stronger brand awareness greater front store penetration and superior vendor support making it a better growth platform . 8 katz group continues to supply rexall products to the independent and franchise pharmacies sold to mckesson . on march 2 2016 rexall announced that it was being sold in entirety by katz group to the mckesson corporation a san francisco based pharmaceuticals company . 9 it has been speculated that this is due to pressure on mckesson by walgreens over the rite aid purchase and on growing pressure on rexall over sales . purchase of edmonton oilers edit in may 2007 katz made a 145 million bid to buy the edmonton oilers nhl hockey team 10 which the owners of the team the edmonton investors group eig quickly rejected stating the team was not for sale . in july 2007 he made another bid for the oilers of 185 million which was turned down by the edmonton investment group eig on august 7 2007 . on december 12 2007 katz made an offer of 188 million to the eig . the board of the eig announced in january 2008 that it would again recommend to its shareholders to reject this latest bid . on january 28 2008 katz increased his offer to 200 million and extended the acceptance deadline to february 5 2008 at which time katz was notified by the eig that all its members agreed to sell the oilers to him pending league and financial approval . on june 18 2008 daryl katz received the final ok from the national hockey league to purchase the edmonton oilers and then on july 2 2008 he was announced as the owner of the edmonton oilers during a press conference at rexall place where he was presented with an edmonton oilers jersey with the number 08 and his last name patched onto the back . 11 the oilers entertainment group oeg was created to run the sports & entertainment side of katz group . in addition to the oilers oeg owns and operates the edmonton oil kings whl the bakersfield condors ahl the norfolk admirals echl and aquila productions film & production company . in april 2015 katz announced a partnership with joel silver to create silver pictures entertainment 12 a new company that will develop produce and provide or arrange financing for feature films television and digital projects . katz interests in the company fall under the oeg umbrella . oeg will also operate rogers place 13 the new home of the oilers in downtown edmonton when it opens in fall 2016 . sports venues with rexall naming rights edit formerly named rexall place in edmonton alberta was the former home of both the edmonton oilers of the national hockey league and the edmonton oil kings of the western hockey league . the katz group purchased the naming rights to the arena . daryl katz head of the katz group is the owner of the edmonton oilers hockey club . in 2004 katz purchased the naming rights for ten years to the new 45 million rexall centre a 12 500 seat tennis and entertainment complex on the campus of york university in toronto . 14 real estate development edit katz group properties is involved in land assembly and site & building development across canada and the united states and is leading the 2.5 billion edmonton arena district development now known as ice district . 15 rogers place and ice district edit further information rogers place and ice district shortly after acquiring the oilers in 2008 katz set his sights on building a new arena in downtown edmonton which he anticipated being a catalyst for downtown revitalization . following public consultations and negotiations with the city of edmonton katz group and the city agreed to a public private partnership to build rogers place arena under which the city would retain ownership of the new arena and katz group operate it under oeg . the city s portion of arena funding will be paid through a community revitalization levy and will not result in any new cost to taxpayers . 16 construction on the project began march 2014 . it is scheduled to open in fall 2016 and will feature a 24 000 square foot grand entrance way called the winter garden which can be used as public private programmable space . with rogers place at its core katz group has begun construction of the edmonton arena district ead expected to be canada s largest mixed use sports and entertainment development . the ead will cover 25 contiguous acres of downtown edmonton and feature a 50 000 square foot public plaza two office towers a delta hotels hotel a gateway casinos gaming and entertainment facility a cineplex movie theatre complex over 1 000 luxury condos and rental apartments and 270 000 square feet of retail space at a total cost of approximately 2.5 billion . in 2014 it was announced that the city of edmonton and stantec would be the major tenants of the two respective office towers . the stantec tower will be the tallest in edmonton 62 storeys . 17 on july 13 2015 the edmonton arena district was introduced as ice district . 18 references edit largest alberta employers 2012 news cbc 13 july 2015 . katz group rebrands edmonton s arena district . cbc.ca . cbc . retrieved 13 july 2015 . a b health rexall . rexall health names j rgen schreiber ceo . www.rexall.ca . rexall health . retrieved 11 july 2015 . a b c d e f g h i j edmonton journal daryl katz reclusive billionaire by rick mcconnell john mackinnon and gary lamphier december 17 2012 archives canada daryl katz collection retrieved march 9 2013 rare canadian pharmacy takeover is inked tim kiladze globeandmail.com march 31 2012 spectator hamilton 30 january 2012 . dell pharmacies sold to rexall chain . hamilton spectator . retrieved 11 july 2015 . kiladze tim . rare canadian pharmacy takeover is inked . www.theglobeandmail.com . shaw holly . rexall drug store chain to be sold to mckesson in 3 billion deal . financial post . national post . retrieved march 2 2016 . journal edmonton 2007 05 07 . katz bids to buy oilers . canada.com . journal edmonton . owning oilers a dream come true . journal edmonton . daryl katz partners with hollywood producer joel silver to create new entertainment company . ead