Sleep Country Canada

In 1994, Christine Magee, a banker with an entrepreneurial spirit, joined forces with Stephen Gunn and Gordon Lownds to open the first four Sleep Country Canada stores in Vancouver. Their approach was straightforward: offer customers choice and focus on the sales experience. The company expanded rapidly, opening 19 stores in Toronto by 1996 and capturing a significant market share. A major step came in 2003 when Sleep Country went public through an income trust, raising nearly $130 million. The company's trajectory continued with the acquisition of Dormez-vous in Quebec and a brief expansion into the U.S. In 2008, the company was taken private by investment firms Birch Hill Equity Partners and Westerkirk Capital for $356 million. By 2015, Sleep Country was ready for the public markets again, launching a second IPO on the Toronto Stock Exchange that raised $300 million. This new chapter saw aggressive growth, including the acquisition of online mattress competitor Endy in 2018 and the Canadian operations of Casper in 2023. In July 2024, another significant event unfolded as Fairfax Financial Holdings agreed to acquire Sleep Country for approximately $1.7 billion, a deal that will take the company private once more upon its expected closure in late 2024.