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Ousted CEO makes offer to take over company [The Eagle-Tribune, North Andover, Mass. :: ](Eagle-Tribune (North Andover, MA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) July 25--Arthur T. Demoulas' offer to buy the rest of the supermarket chain embroiled in a widespread protest and boycott was met with elation, and then a reality check, protest organizers said Thursday. Demoulas announced his offer Wednesday night, though he did not disclose the amount, and none of the family has not spoken publicly about it since. The board of directors, which includes cousin and rival Arthur S. Demoulas, meets Friday at 9 a.m. at the Prudential Center in Boston. Protest organizers said their own rally at the same time at the Main Street Market Basket in Tewksbury will go on as planned and that the themes will not change. "We still want him back," said Tom Trainor, a former grocery supervisor who was fired Sunday with seven others for organizing the protests and a warehouse shutdown that has left produce and meat shelves bare. "Even if there's a deal in place, if they're leaning toward accepting his deal, we still want him back in the interim." Trainor said the initial boost of the news eventually faded a little as Arthur T. supporters thought about what an offer means for them in the short term. "At first it's, 'Wow, this is great,'" he said. "Then reality set in and you realize these things don't turn on a dime. People tempered themselves a little, but we know things are happening, which is good." Organizers are not actively planning a protest in Boston, but Trainor said he would not be surprised if people showed up on their own. Steve Paulenka, a former facilities and operations supervisor who also was fired Sunday, said he has not heard whether Arthur S.'s side may accept. "I haven't heard from anyone on the other side for 20 years," he said. "From Arthur T.'s side, we've been very clear that we haven't been in touch with his side of the family. This is completely organic." Arthur T.'s offer came after the co-CEOs, Felicia Thornton and Jim Gooch, on Tuesday defended Sunday's firings, seeming to hold the line in the midst of protests and boycotts outside many of the chain's 71 stores. Scott Latham, an associate professor of management, business policy and strategy at the University of Massachusetts Lowell who has followed the Demoulas company, called the offer "unbelievable." Kevin Griffin, president and publisher of The Griffin Report of Food Marketing, a food industry trade publication based in Duxbury, said he had heard unconfirmed reports of the company being for sale. But the current chaos likely scared off any potential outside buyers. "The company is successful when it's running on full cylinders," he said. "Right now it's not. Suitors are going to look at this and say it's a mess." Latham said given current events, he thought the pressure is on Arthur S. to accept the offer. "If Arthur S. wants to maximize shareholder value, he's got to accept," he said. "If he doesn't it looks petty, like internal infighting." He thought given Arthur T.'s wealth and Market Basket's profitability and lack of debt, Demoulas should have little trouble lining up financing to purchase 50.5 percent of the company from Arthur S.'s side. "There isn't a bank that wouldn't loan him the money," Latham said. "The number one thing they would want is assurances that the family feud is put behind them." But that is the rub. The schism between these two cousins and their siblings, colored by accusations of fraud and family betrayal, runs deep and has widened over the decades. Lawsuits and accusations of malfeasance from both sides continue to this day. Last year, Arthur T. and his side of the family, having just lost control of the board of directors when shareholder Rafaele (Demoulas) Evans cast her lot with Arthur S., filed suit against Arthur S.'s side, accusing them of appointing a board member, Keith Cowan, to one of three shareholder seats who is not independent of the family, as is required. Arthur S.'s side fired back, leveling accusations that Arthur T. ran the company in a "dictatorial" manner, ignored the board's authority and unilaterally entered the company into real estate deals worth millions of dollars with other companies owned by his wife and others on his side of the family. Two of Arthur T.'s board members filed suit in April in Middlesex County claiming the other board members kept them in the dark about the results of audits and other corporate information. Employees and customers have protested outside their stores since Monday. Employees demanded last week that the board of directors rehire Arthur T. as CEO and held a rally at corporate headquarters in Tewksbury Friday. On Sunday, the CEOs fired eight senior employees who organized the rally and orchestrated a shutdown of the warehouses. But the employees held a larger rally Monday, urging other employees and customers to boycott and protest outside their stores. Follow Douglas Moser on Twitter @EagleEyeMoser. To comment on stories and see what others are saying, log on to eagletribune.com. TODAY'S ACTION 9 a.m. Rally with employees and supporters at Tewksbury Market Basket store, 10 Main St., Tewksbury 9 a.m. Board of Directors meeting, The Prudential Center, Boston. Originally scheduled for 4 p.m. ___ (c)2014 The Eagle-Tribune (North Andover, Mass.) Visit The Eagle-Tribune (North Andover, Mass.) at www.eagletribune.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |