The story
Loews Corporation traces its roots to 1946 when Laurence Tisch persuaded his parents to invest $125,000 to buy a resort hotel in Lakewood, New Jersey. Laurence's brother Robert joined the business shortly thereafter. The Tisch brothers began to invest their profits in expanding the hotel business. By 1956, the brothers were in a position to build their first hotel, the Americana in Bal Harbour, Florida, for $17 million in cash.
In the wake of the landmark 1948 Supreme Court antitrust ruling in United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc., all the major movie studios were ordered to separate from the movie theater chains that had been commonly owned and operated.In 1959, the Tisch brothers purchased a controlling interest in Loew's Theatres, a nationwide chain of 102 movie theaters, as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
(formed by theater magnate Marcus Loew's acquisition of three production companies) became a separate entity. This acquisition formed the foundation of the modern-day Loews Corporation, and the company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange that same year.
By the summer of 1960, the brothers became co-chairmen. The theaters were aging and not suited to then-current movie-going trends, which anticipated the multiplex; however, the theaters were located on highly valuable city property. Almost immediately, the Tisch brothers began closing and demolishing many of these theaters, selling the vacant lots to developers. This hastened the end of the classic movie "palaces" from the Golden Age of Hollywood.
The brothers soon diversified the Loews business, successfully venturing into a variety of areas as the 1960s and 1970s progressed. Loews acquired Lorillard Tobacco Company in 1968, CNA Financial in 1974, and the Bulova Watch Company in 1979. Through acquisitions, Loews's revenues grew from $100 million in 1970 to more than $3 billion by a decade later.
Loews sold the theater business in 1985 (it continued operating under the Loew's brand name, while the investment company operates as Loews). Laurence Tisch briefly owned, through Loews, a significant portion of US television and radio broadcaster CBS in the 1980s. As chairman of CBS, he also approved the deal that brought late-night host David Letterman to the network from NBC. Loews involvement in CBS ended in 1995, with the sale of CBS to Westinghouse Electric Corporation for $5.4 billion.
In the late 1980s, Loews diversified into the energy business. In 1989, the company acquired Diamond M Drilling. The subsidiary acquired ODECO in 1992, adding 39 oil rigs. A year later, the combined businesses were renamed Diamond Offshore. The operating subsidiary, which went public in 1995, provides contract drilling services to the energy industry globally.
Diamond Offshore filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April 2020, amid the COVID-19 recession and a collapse in oil demand. Loews deconsolidated Diamond from its financial statements that quarter. Diamond emerged from bankruptcy in April 2021 after equitizing approximately $2.1 billion in senior unsecured notes. In September 2024, Noble Corporation completed its acquisition of Diamond Offshore in a cash-and-stock transaction valued at approximately $1.6 billion, ending Loews's involvement in offshore drilling.
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In 2003, Loews purchased Texas Gas Transmission, then bought Gulf South Pipeline Company a year later. These two companies were consolidated into a new entity, Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, which went public in 2005. Structured as a midstream master limited partnership (MLP), Boardwalk Pipeline provides transportation, storage, gathering, and processing of natural gas and liquids for its customers.
In July 2018, Loews exercised a call-right provision in Boardwalk's partnership agreement and took the company private, paying $12.06 per unit to acquire all outstanding public limited partnership units in a transaction valued at approximately $1.5 billion. Minority unitholders filed suit in Delaware. The litigation continued through multiple appeals; in December 2025, the Delaware Supreme Court resolved most claims in Loews's favor while remanding one issue for further proceedings.
On May 10, 2006, Loews Corporation announced that it would offer 15 million shares of Carolina Group via a public offering, with the proceeds to be used for general corporate purposes. The sale's value was $740 million.
Loews Corporation was the parent company of Bulova from 1979 until 2007, when it sold the company to Citizen Watch.
On June 4, 2007, Loews Corporation announced it would acquire a portion of the operations of Dominion Resources for $4.03 billion dollars. Loews rebranded the assets HighMount Exploration & Production. This wholly owned subsidiary is engaged in the exploration and production of natural gas and natural gas liquids. On May 23, 2014, Loews announced that HighMount is pursuing strategic alternatives, including a potential sale of business. HighMount was sold to the private equity firm EnerVest for $805 million, a substantial loss on the original $4.03 billion acquisition price.
On December 17, 2007, Loews Corporation announced a plan to spin off its entire ownership interest in Lorillard to holders of Carolina Group stock and Loews common stock.
In May 2017, Loews acquired Consolidated Container Company from Bain Capital for approximately $1.2 billion, entering the rigid plastic packaging business. The subsidiary rebranded as Altium Packaging in January 2020. In March 2021, Loews sold a 47 percent stake in Altium to GIC, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, in a transaction that valued Altium at $2 billion.
From Wikipedia’s article on Loews Corporation, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.7