W. GRAEME ROUSTAN, ICD.D
NACD Board Leadership Fellow
W. Graeme Roustan, the former Chairman of the Board of a publicly traded global company which owned Bauer, Cascade and several other sports brands after taking the company through an IPO is an Active Investor in every investment he makes whether that is in a public, private or contributes to a not-for-profit company.
With an accredited foundation in best practices in corporate governance both in the U.S. and Canada, Mr. Roustan expects that Boards and their directors act in the best long-term interests of their respective entities at all times, without exception.
Born in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Mr. Roustan grew up in Montreal playing hockey on outdoor community park rinks from the age of three, and continues playing today. In the late 1980s, he began his financial career with a Wall Street firm before launching Roustan Capital in 1990.
Mr. Roustan has made numerous investments in the manufacturing, consumer products, aviation, sports and entertainment industries, and is well known for pursuing high-profile global brands. As an example, in 2008, Roustan Capital led a group that acquired Bauer Hockey from Nike for $200 million.
The Roustan Capital portfolio today includes The Hockey News, The Curling News, Heritage Hockey Sticks, Torspo Hockey, Northland Hockey and Christian Hockey.
Mr. Roustan is a graduate of the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD), Directors Education Program at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Business, and was class valedictorian. In addition to graduating, he also received the school’s coveted and world recognized ICD.D accreditation.
Mr. Roustan is also a graduate of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD), Masters Class, and has become an accredited NACD Board Leadership Fellow. The ICD program in Canada and the NACD program in the USA are the top two corporate governance programs in North America and are both recognized and respected around the world.
Mr. Roustan has been invited by some of the finest organizations in the world to share his thoughts on best practices in corporate governance. He was invited to be a guest speaker by the NACD at its annual summit in Washington D.C., The Deal’s annual economy event in New York City, the Ivey School of Business at Western University and was a featured speaker at the annual Activist Investing Conference in Toronto. Mr. Roustan has also had the pleasure and honour of speaking to the world-class athletes of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League at its annual Clarkson Cup Gala on multiple occasions.
As Chairman of Bauer’s parent company, Mr. Roustan led the Board in Bauer’s acquisition of Mission-Itech Hockey in 2008. Additional bolt-on acquisitions followed, including Cascade Lacrosse and Maverik Lacrosse. In 2011, while Mr. Roustan led the Board as its Chairman, Bauer Performance Sports Ltd. completed its IPO on the Toronto Stock Exchange. By October 2012 when Mr. Roustan retired as Chairman, the company’s market cap approached $400 million, and Bauer’s worldwide market share grew to over 50 percent of global hockey equipment sales.
His professional involvement in hockey began long before his time leading Bauer as its Chairman of the Board. In 1989, he attempted to acquire an NHL franchise for San Jose, California, the club that eventually became the San Jose Sharks.
His philanthropy began in 1992 when Mr. Roustan co-founded “Hockey for the Homeless”, a non-profit U.S. entity responding to Hurricane Andrew. “Hockey for the Homeless” hosted tournaments in Miami and a celebrity hockey event in Los Angeles, raising money for Habitat for Humanity.
He has been an avid supporter of the Montreal Canadiens Children’s Foundation by subsidizing design and engineering services as well as the refrigeration, dasher boards and floors systems for the first five outdoor NHL size community rinks in Montreal. He also bolstered the Ottawa Senators Foundation by subsidizing similar services and systems for their “Rink of Dreams” community multi-purpose ice rink on the front lawn of Ottawa’s City Hall.
Mr. Roustan has worked with Hockey Canada, the Montreal Canadiens, the Ottawa Senators, and numerous municipalities and organizations, building community indoor and outdoor ice rinks and arenas in select countries all over the world including Saudi Arabia, U.A.E., Kuwait and Qatar. He has also invested in many community ice rinks, which are the cornerstone of grassroots youth hockey that feed NHL rosters.
He has financially and enthusiastically supported the Canadian Women’s Hockey League since just after its inception in 2007 until November 2018 and during that time served as a Governor of the league. Mr. Roustan has supported several worthy organizations including an equestrian therapeutic riding center for individuals with mental, physical, emotional, social or learning disabling conditions as well as a number of other charitable causes.
W. Graeme Roustan has been appointed by the Board of Directors of the Canadian Olympic Committee to serve a four-year term as an “Olympic Supporter” beginning in February 2017. In this role, he has volunteered and has made himself available to the Board of Directors to be appointed to and serve on committees and to assist the Canadian Olympic Committee in other ways during this, his first four year term. Growing up admiring Canadian athletes that have represented Canada in Olympics around the world, Mr. Roustan believes it is an honour and a privilege to now serve the Canadian Olympic Committee and Canadian athletes.
Fulfilling a childhood dream and current passion, Mr. Roustan earned his pilot license as an FAA pilot and prior to acquiring The Hockey News, he appeared in its annual People of Power and Influence list several times due to his lifelong passion and commitment to growing the game of men’s and women’s hockey around the world.