At its peak, it controlled tens of billions in dollars of assets in major distilling, commercial real estate development, oil and gas, and entertainment companies across North America.
Following the death of Samuel Bronfman in 1971, control of Cemp and its subsidiaries was shared between brothers Charles (in Montreal) and Edgar (in New York).
[4] In 1987, Charles Bronfman announced that Cemp was to be dissolved and the assets distributed to its individual family-member owners.
[7] In the early 1960s, Cemp acquired a 30% stake in Paramount Pictures and sold it in 1966 to Charles Bludhorn of Gulf & Western.
[8] In 1968, Seagram Co. Ltd. purchased 15% of film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and for a very short time was its largest and potentially controlling shareholder.
[9] In 1981, flush with cash from the sale of Texas Oil and Gas and looking to diversity their holdings, Seagram launched a takeover bid for Conoco.
[11] Cemp made numerous investments during its history, including taking ownership stakes in: Royalite Oil Company, a Western Canadian diversified oil production and distribution company later sold to British-American Oil;[3] Polaroid Corporation; Cineplex Odeon;[12] and Ticket Reservation Systems, a pioneering computerized sales system for entertainment tickets founded in 1966.
[19][20] Charles Bronfman called the legacy of the decision of selling Seagram "a disaster" and "a family tragedy".