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McCain family 'has no plans to sell Maple Leaf Foods?

By Attracta Mooney

Michael McCain is not considering selling Canadian food giant Maple Leaf Foods, despite reports to the contrary.

An article in Toronto-based The Globe and Mail last week claimed McCain was “open to the idea” of selling to a multinational, although it said he was “far from convinced that selling out [was] the right thing to do”.

However, a spokeswoman from the company told CampdenFB that McCain has no plans at all to sell and said he would not even consider such a move.

Instead, McCain, whose late father Wallace McCain was chairman of the company until his death in May, is focusing on improving the business.

“The secondary meats processing side of the business is undergoing a transformation phase to create more efficient manufacturing processes that will drive improved financial performance,” she said.

This focus on upgrading the business is already affecting the company, she added.

“The business has had nine consecutive quarters of consistently improving performance because of improved efficiencies. A few plants have been closed and manufacturing is being consolidated in other facilities. There are other plans currently in development to further build manufacturing efficiencies.”

Wallace McCain was one of the co-founder of Canadian frozen food empire McCain Foods along with his brother Harrison. He left the family business in 1994, following a feud between the two siblings.

Michael and Wallace acquired Maple Leaf Foods in 1995, where the McCain family holds about 31% of the voting rights. Scott, Michael’s brother, also works in the business.

The company, which features on CampdenFB’s Top 100 Family Businesses in North America, had revenues of $5.17 billion (€3.68 billion) last year.  

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