At a time when consumer focus on Canadian brands is at an all-time high, Mountain Equipment Company (MEC) announces that it has agreed to be acquired by a Canadian-led ownership group.
They broke the co-op to sell themselves to private equity
They were already under creditor protection when the sale happened. You can blame the old board for bankrupting the co-op, but the private equity acquisition was handled by the courts
A small number of board members biased the vote to get moreof their friends onto it. The now-majority proceeded to run the co-op like a for-profit business, expanding for growth’s sake, and ensuring that if (when) the co-op failed, they’d make out like bandits. They then voted to violate the charter of the company, declare themselves a for- profit corp, and sell to US investors.
Those fuckers didn’t even pay out the shares to us owners. They stole the co-op from us.
The entire board of directors after their political coup. From about 2009 onwards, they restructured to focus on growth growth GROWTH! That was when they started to ramp up Chinese-made products and wind down their own manufacturing, and when they started to sell bikes under their own brand name.
And worse of all the courts did nothing about it. But the courts would be very happy with protecting shareholders of private and publicly traded companies.
They were already under creditor protection when the sale happened. You can blame the old board for bankrupting the co-op, but the private equity acquisition was handled by the courts
A small number of board members biased the vote to get moreof their friends onto it. The now-majority proceeded to run the co-op like a for-profit business, expanding for growth’s sake, and ensuring that if (when) the co-op failed, they’d make out like bandits. They then voted to violate the charter of the company, declare themselves a for- profit corp, and sell to US investors.
Those fuckers didn’t even pay out the shares to us owners. They stole the co-op from us.
Name and shame?
The entire board of directors after their political coup. From about 2009 onwards, they restructured to focus on growth growth GROWTH! That was when they started to ramp up Chinese-made products and wind down their own manufacturing, and when they started to sell bikes under their own brand name.
And worse of all the courts did nothing about it. But the courts would be very happy with protecting shareholders of private and publicly traded companies.
Co-ops are such a socialist thing.
You say that as if it’s a negative.
I read it as sarcastic - what the courts are quietly thinking.
Exactly(socialism would be great!).