A New England supermarket chain’s epic family feud is over.
After a 10-week standoff that included employee protests and a customer boycott, the ousted president of Market Basket reached an agreement late Wednesday to buy out the stake in the 71-store chain controlled by his cousin.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The Boston Globe said the sale price was upward of $1.5 billion, citing a source briefed on the negotiations. In the end, the governors of Massachusetts and New Hampshire became involved in negotiations to reach a deal.
The dispute began in June when the company’s board replaced president Arthur T. Demoulas, who was beloved for his leadership but had long feuded with his cousin, Arthur S., over control of the family-owned company. Arthur S. and his family controlled 50.5% of the shares of the company.
Employees sided with Artie T., as he is known, and asked customers to boycott. Deliveries were halted to the stores, resulting in empty shelves, and hours for part-time employees were slashed.
The sale’s announcement had the employee group backing Artie T. ecstatic.
“Details are emerging as we write this but we wanted to let the world know that we have emerged from this crisis victorious!” said a statement posted on the Web site of We Are Market Basket, the group of employees and customers that had fought for control of the company.
The company’s statement said Artie T. and his management team would return to the chain immediately, while two outside co-CEOs who were brought in by his cousin would remain in place until the sale closes, which is expected in the next several months. All employees were invited to return to work.
“The company would like to thank Market Basket customers and partners for their strong support through the years. Our shared goal is to return Market Basket to the supermarket that its customers have come to rely on,” said the company’s statement.
But the financial impact of the idle stores may have caused lasting damage to the company’s finances. It is believed to have lost several million in potential revenue daily — a major blow in the grocery industry, whose profit margins are low.
The situation also hurt employees. Management repeatedly threatened to terminate workers who did not show up, but held off while negotiations for a sale were ongoing.
For some employees, lack of hours during the stoppage put in jeopardy their eligibility for the generous profit-sharing program, one of the company’s main employee benefits and a substitute for a more traditional retirement package.
Despite the large scale, Market Basket under Artie T. maintained the personal touch. Employees proudly wear their years of service on their nametags and spend their entire career at the company, rising from a bagging or cashier position to leadership roles.
They said the firing of Artie T. hit like a blow to their own family, and expressed concern that new management — a pair of outside hires — was more interested in profit than maintaining the company’s distinctive culture.
— CNNMoney’s Chris Isidore contributed to this report
