Morguard

Morguard was founded in 1905 as D. Ackland & Son Limited. It originally made carriage parts, but transitioned into automobile parts in the 1910s. In 1960, it renamed itself Acklands Limited. At some point, it transitioned to being a wholesale distributor of automobile and industrial parts, as opposed to a manufacturer. Financial problems at the company in the 1980s led to the current president, K. Rai Sahi, taking control of the company in 1990. The company sold its industrial parts distribution to W.W. Grainger in 1996 for $250 million USD; this division was renamed Acklands-Grainger. In 1997, it sold half of automotive group to General Parts. In 1997, Acklands began investing in real estate, and was renamed Acktion Corporation. It eventually sold its remaining auto parts distribution business to focus on real estate.

Notable acquisitions by Acktion include Goldlist Properties and Revenue Properties. One of its investments was Morguard REIT, a newly formed real estate investment trust. Morguard REIT had been launched by Morguard Investment Services, which had been founded in 1966, to sell mortgages to pension funds. It expanded to real estate in the 1970s. After investing in a number of other Morguard companies, Acktion renamed itself Morguard Corporation in 2002.

Morguard North American Residential REIT had an IPO in 2012, with properties spun-off from Morguard Corporation.