Market Basket Deal In the Works, Patrick Says After Filing Conflict of Interest Disclosure

Written by Robert Gates

Gov. Deval Patrick says the two sides are nearing a deal to end the Market Basket standoff, days after he disclosed that his wife Diane works for the law firm representing the company’s independent directors.

Patrick said Wednesday that he had spoken with both sides of the dispute and a deal is in the works. He also called for Market Basket employees to return to work.

His comments come five days after Patrick filed a disclosure of an appearance of a conflict of interest, noting Diane Patrick is a partner with Ropes and Gray, which represents the independent directors of Market Basket, but not the company. The independent directors would be responsible for managing any eventual sale of the company, Patrick said.

Patrick said he filed the disclosure because he and his senior leadership team has offered help in resolving Market Basket’s “current leadership dispute.”

The filing way made “out of an abundance of caution,” Patrick said, in the case that both sides of the Demoulas family decide to accept his offer of assistance.

After talking with former CEO Arthur T. Demoulas and Market Basket board Chairman Keith Cowan, Patrick said in a statement that “everybody is interested in a sale.”

Last month, Market Basket employees walked off the job in a bid to bring back former CEO Arthur T. Demoulas.

Negotiations have reportedly been going on for up to two weeks to allow the ousted CEO and his shareholders to purchase the remaining 50.5 percent of the company from his cousin, Arthur S. Demoulas.

The chain has 71 stores in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, with one Maine location. It employs 25,000 people and has over $4 billion in annual sales.

In the past few weeks, customers of the chain have been shopping elsewhere, in part because of solidarity with workers and also because they have been finding shelves mostly empty. Market Basket has been experiencing significant losses, and the impact has extended to neighboring stores and Market Basket’s suppliers.