| Notes |
In 1988, the four principals reached a decision to sell, and Pillsbury agreed to buy the company as long as Rose agreed to stay on as head of the company for five years.
In 1988, Grand Metropolitan plc took over Pillsbury following a bitter corporate battle. The next year, Grand Metropolitan ordered Pillsbury to get out of the seafood business. The decision left Bumble Bee floundering, along with Van De Kamp's, another Pillsbury purchase that had taken place less than five years before. Although Bumble Bee had pulled in sales of $285 million in 1988, Grand Metropolitan considered it a poor prospect for future growth, and Pillsbury reached a tentative agreement to sell both Bumble Bee and Van de Kamp's seafood subsidiaries in August 1989. |