Arthur T. Buys Back Market Basket

Arthur T. Demoulas is back in business.

Market Basket shareholders have entered into a binding agreement under which its Class B shareholders will acquire the 50.5 percent ownership interest currently owned by its Class A shareholders, meaning that Arthur T.'s previously reported $1.5 billion bid to regain control of the company, following an acrimonious ouster in June, has been accepted.

Effective immediately, Arthur T. will take over day-to-day operational authority of the of the troubled New England supermarket chain. According to his spokeswoman, Justine Griffith, "He and his management team will return to Market Basket during the interim period while the transaction to purchase the company is completed. The current co-CEOs [Felicia Thornton and James Gooch] will remain in place pending the closing, which is expected to occur in the next several months."

Griffith added that all associates, many of whom have been boycotting the company under the new management, are invited back to work "to restore the company … to normal operations." As a result of the boycotts, store shelves emptied and shoppers stayed away.

Further, on behalf of the shareholders and the company, she thanked the grocer's customers and partners “for their strong support through the years,” including, no doubt, the recent rallies held in support of Arthur T., who has been embroiled in a long-running feud with his cousin, Arthur S. Demoulas, over the direction of the Tewksbury, Mass.-based business, which operates 71 stores in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine.