Maple Leaf Gardens Stock Certificate 1994
1 Share
Maple Leaf Gardens, Limited

Montreal Trust Company of Canada
Toronto, Ontario

Maple Leaf Gardens Ltd. issued and canceled stock certificates in 1994 as part of the corporate restructuring and ownership battles following Harold Ballard's death, which ultimately led to the company being taken private.

Ballard died in April 1990. The executors of his will were Steve Stavro, Donald Crump and Don Giffin. In 1991, Stavro paid off a $20 million loan that had been made to Ballard in 1980 by Molson. In return, he was given an option to buy Gardens shares from Ballard's estate. Molson also agreed to sell its stake in Maple Leaf Gardens Ltd. to Stavro. That deal closed in 1994, and shortly after, Stavro bought Ballard's shares from the estate for $34 a share or $75 million. The purchase was the subject of a securities commission review and a lawsuit from Ballard's son Bill Ballard. However, the deal stood, and Stavro and his partners in MLG Ventures became the new owner of the Maple Leafs and Maple Leaf Gardens.

The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan injected $50 million in 1994 for a major stake (49%), shifting the company away from its historical public trading model toward a private entity (later becoming Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment).

In 2003, Stavro sold his shares and MLG Holdings was dissolved, leaving Teachers' as majority owners of MLSE.