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THE VEGA FOOD COMPANY
In February 2007, Francisco Valle, Jr., president of Industrias La Vega, organized the first family council meeting in the owning family’s history to address problems he was having with his youngest sister, Mari, a shareholder in the company. He felt that the problems were not of his making and were interfering with his management of the company. Francisco, 45, had worked closely with his father, Francisco Sr., since 1986 and had become president of the company in March 2004, when his 72-year-old father was killed in an automobile accident. Industrias La Vega was a Spanish meat-processing business that produced hams, sausages, and other delicacies for domestic and export markets. The $104.8-million-a-year business was demanding, of course, but Francisco Jr. felt most challenged by the family conflicts that often overwhelmed him. The ownership structure of Industrias La Vega had been updated just months before the tragic accident involving Francisco Sr. At the request of Francisco Jr., who was concerned about the possible loss of control of the enterprise he had co-managed with his father for years, Francisco Sr. and his attorneys had created two classes of stock. The voting A shares did not pay dividends. The nonvoting but dividend-bearing B shares had a par value 10 times higher than that of the A shares. Except for brief stints, none of the Valle daughters had worked in the business prior to their father’s death. Ana, the second eldest daughter, was an artist, and she had been instrumental in designing the image and logo of a new premium product line. Working alongside her father, she had created the look for the Gold Label line of meats and cold cuts, Francisco Jr. had not been particularly enthusiastic about this new line. Mari, 27, the youngest of the Valle siblings, was concerned about her future and the security of her own young