Family Feud, With Fries? Lawsuit Roils Canada’s Frozen Food Empire
There’s trouble within the McCain Foods family, the iconic frozen french-fry company with a nearly 70-year history in Canada.
In a filing, Eleanor McCain, the daughter of McCain Foods co-founder Wallace McCain, alleges that the policies of the family-owned company are preventing her from cashing out her shares at a rate that compensates her fairly.
According to the Globe and Mail, those shares could equal around $1 billion. (McCain, who is one of 55 family shareholders in the company, has a reported 8.7 percent stake in the company, which is the world's largest manufacturer of frozen potato products.)
McCain, who is a professional musician, filed a statement of claim against the holding company, McCain Foods Group Inc. in a New Brunswick court recently.
Among other claims, McCain alleges that an offer from the holding company to buy her out did not represent fair market value, but one that is “hundreds of millions of dollars below MFGI’s own internal estimates.” (These claims have yet to be tested in court.)
The holding company denies the substance of McCain’s claim. In a statement to the Globe and Mail, they said the allegations in her filing are “without merit” and that they hope the matter can be “resolved constructively.”
CBC reports that the holding company has filed a notice that it plans to defend itself. A spokesperson for the company told the outlet, “McCain Foods Group Inc. will respond comprehensively in due course through the appropriate legal channels.”
This isn’t the first family dispute within the frozen french-fry empire. The highly profitable company, which is also behind Deep n Delicious cakes and Pizza Pockets, was rocked by another family feud more than three decades ago. In the early 1990s, after a contentious internal succession dispute, Eleanor McCain’s father Wallace filed a claim against his brother and co-founder, Harrison over the future of the company. (Wallace would eventually be removed from his shared leadership role.)
The very best of Chatelaine straight to your inbox.
Flannery Dean is a writer based in Hamilton, Ont. She’s written for The Narwhal, the Globe and Mail and The Guardian.
