From Staff Reports

BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C. — The fight between Ingles Markets Inc. and a minority shareholder for a seat on the grocer's board of directors has gone public. 

“Both companies have issued scathing U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings in a battle that continues to reveal more about the innerworkings of the Western North Carolina-based grocer,” the Asheville Citizen Times reported on April 3.

“In mid-March, Summer Road LLC, the family office of the Sackler family, signaled it would seek a seat on Ingles' Board of Directors citing the need for a shareholder representative amid what it described as the board of directors rubber stamping decisions made by the company and its chairman, Robert P. Ingle II,” the ACT noted. 

“The investment firm alleged Ingle II has led the Black Mountain-based grocer through a "decade-long program of lost opportunity," blurring the line between real estate investment and the grocery business and creating potential conflicts of interest,” the newspaper added.

“Summer Road suggested minority shareholders, who only select two of the company’s eight board members, elect its Chief Investment Officer Rory Held to the post. Ingles has opposed the nomination,” the ACT noted. 

“Both companies have hired New York-based public relations firms to help navigate the proxy battle and both filed letters to shareholders outlining their positions in the battle April 1.

“In its letter, Ingles cited Summer Road’s affiliation with the Sackler family as potentially leading to “diminished customer loyalty,” posing significant harm to company sales. Ingles called Held “bad for Ingles, bad for shareholders, bad for associates, bad for customers, and bad for the communities we serve.”

“The Sackler family led the pharmaceutical manufacturer Purdue Pharma until it was declared bankrupt in 2019. For their role in creating and worsening the opioid crisis across America with the widespread distribution of OxyContin, Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family have been sued thousands of times, leading to settlements worth billions. From 1999-2023, approximately 806,000 people died from an opioid overdose, according to the CDC. Those deaths include overdose deaths involving prescription and illegal opioids.

“North Carolina is set to receive nearly $150 million from Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family from 2025 to 2040, according to the North Carolina attorney general.”

Ingles wrote in its letter the following:

“It is widely acknowledged that the Sacklers’ false and misleading marketing of OxyContin destroyed families across the South, which had among the highest rates of opioid overdose deaths in the country. As a community-based grocery store, Ingles depends on the loyalty of our customers.

“We believe customers may choose to shop anywhere else but at a store whose Board includes a Sackler Representative – particularly if they have experienced the loss of a family member or friend due to the addiction caused by the Sacklers’ OxyContin.”

The ACT added, “Ingles plans to open a new store in late spring and has identified between $120 million to $160 million of capital investments over the next two fiscal years to support growth, according to the letter. It has proposed Duke Energy Senior Vice President Dwight Jacobs and the CEO of FizzyWork Executive Coaching Rebekah Lowe for the two open board of director positions elected by minority shareholders.”