By Tess Lawrence
Continued from Part 2
2019
In 2019, Lino Saputo’s autobiography was published, a hardback entitled Lino Saputo, Entrepreneur, subtitled Living Our Dreams, its cover featuring a photo of a debonair Saputo that could be a screen shot from a movie.
At the time of writing, a lonely copy is listed on Amazon for a hefty $156.48.
I have my own signed copy.
It is written in collaboration with high flyer John Parisella, a Harrison Ford lookalike who is a walking powerhouse of political and academic influence – who could give a master class on public relations, restorative reputations and foreign policy in his sleep.
Like Saputo, he shares national Canadian honours, including the Order of Canada and Officer of the National Order of Quebec. He is also a Fellow of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.
His co-authorship of Saputo’s book remains intriguing and is an unusual literary coupling.
Although Saputo refers to his family’s contact with the Mafia, despite allocating a whole chapter to the allegations, it is written about in a sparse manner as if the matter was ultimately of little consequence.
It is essentially a vanity publication.
This is where Parisella’s expertise would come in handy. The Mafia connection had to be mentioned. But played down. And ameliorated. As always, it must be noted that Lino Saputo denies any wrong doing.
Photo: planetozmedia
2020
‘Quebec dairy mogul Lino Saputo had secret past dealings with US mobster Joe Bonanno then lied about it’ – CBC News, January 16, 2020.
From a CBC news article:
“We respected the law, kept our distance from criminal organizations, and avoided crossing the wrong people,” Saputo writes in Entrepreneur: Living our dreams.
But between 1964 and 1979, Saputo maintained a clandestine relationship with one of the most powerful gangsters in the U.S., according to police evidence uncovered by Enquête, Radio-Canada’s investigative program.
The evidence, gathered by federal and state law enforcement officials in the 1970s, details personal and financial dealings between Saputo and Joseph Bonanno, considered one of the founding members of the American Mafia.
In 1980, a retired New York judge reviewed the police evidence as part of an administrative hearing.
The former judge determined Saputo was so closely linked to Bonanno that allowing him to do business in New York was not in the public interest.
Lunch with New York godfatherBefore Saputo Inc. became the dairy industry giant it is today, employing 17,000 people around the world, the family operated a cheesemaking business from a modest building in Montreal’s Saint-Michel neighbourhood.
In the early 1960s, the building was also home to the Saputo family, including Lino, then in his mid-20s, and his father Giuseppe.
It was here, in May 1964, that the Saputos had lunch with Bonanno.”
1979
New York Times Article Reveals Saputo Appeal Against Denial of Milk Dealer’s License for New York.
Turning back time, in fact digging deeper into the digital pages of Time Machine, on December 5, 1979, I discovered The New York Times published an article by the late and great journalist Harold Faber who was to eventually become an Editor at the Times.
Faber was one of those legendary journalists who processed the heartbeat of the city through the roller of his busy typewriter.
His comprehensive article revealed that the Saputo family’s Utica Cheese Inc, owned by the Italo/Canadians was being investigated by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Arizona Narcotics Strike Force, the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets and the State Organised Crime Task Force – over its application to make mozzarella cheese. That’s a lotzza mozza of investigative bodies.
Faber said the application had:
“… plunged the New York State government into a complicated web of investigations and legal proceedings involving alleged control by organized crime of large segments of the Italian cheese industry in the United States.
“…a procedural question is now before the Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court. It is an appeal from a lower court decision ordering the Agriculture Department to decide within 60 days on whether to grant a milk dealer’s license to Utica Cheese Inc…
“…But the substantive issue, based on court records, concerns allegations of connection between the cheese company and Joseph Bonanno, who has been described by state crime investigators as major figure in organized crime in the United States.
The officers of Utica Cheese denied the allegations and said the department is unduly delaying a decision on the license.
At the heart of the case is a letter written in 1964 by an officer of a Canadian cheese company to Mr. Bonanno, offering to sell him 20 percent of the business for $8,000. According to the Department of Agriculture, that letter shows a tie between the company and organized crime. According to the company, the offer was withdrawn when Mr. Bonanno’s reputation was learned.
“…The current case involving the alleged cheese‐crime connection began in New York last December when Emanuele Saputo, who is president of Utica Cheese, applied for the milk dealer’s license. Mr. Saputo is the chief stockholder in Saputo Cheese Ltd. of Montreal and of Produits Cailiette Inc. of Quebec, both major producers of cheese in Canada. The cheese company in the 1964 letter was the forerunner of Mr. Saputo’s companies, and the letter writer was his father.
Utica Cheese bought a closed milk plant in Oriskany, N.Y., near Utica, for $400,000 and planned to manufacture mozzarella cheese, a major ingredient in pizzas and one of the fastest‐growing segments of the dairy industry…”
Vermont Denies Industrial Development Loan to Saputo
Faber’s article also revealed that:
“… Last year Mr. Saputo and his (sic) adsociates, who had planned to build a $1.4 million cheese plant in St. Albans, Vt., withdrew after Gov. Richard A. Snelling urged the Vermont Industrial Development Board to deny a loan to them. An affidavit in the New York case quotes Governor Snelling as saying, “I believe going into partnership with identified, known leaders of organized crime is evidence of bad moral and business judgment.”
However, Arnold W. Proskin, counsel for Utica Cheese in its New York application, said in an interview that Governor Snelling’s comments were made in political campaign and were not true. Mr. Proskin said Mr. Saputo passed a lie detector test in connection with his denials of any crime connection…”
Here’s Faber’s article in full. The Saputos denied any wrong doing.
2005
Copy of Saputo Inc annual information form dated June 1, 2005. Australia is mentioned only once and that is in relation to a mention of an increase in market share, a nod to the company’s intent, perhaps, to invest in Oz.
The document also acknowledges that Canada is no longer a major exporter of dairy products.
From the document:
“In recent years, the shifts in market shares have been significant. In fact, the WTO Uruguay Round of trade negotiations influenced this change as the WTO addressed specifically for the first time the trade of agricultural products. Between 1995 and 2002, the European Union (then comprised of 15 countries) has seen its share of the world market shrink from 53% to 30%, New Zealand’s share grow from 19% to 28%, Australia’s share grow from 13% to 18%. The United States share has fallen from 6% to 4% while Argentina has gained 1% to reach 4% of the world market. Following the WTO Appelate Body’s ruling rendered in December 2002, Canada is no longer a major exporter of dairy products.”
However, the report points out that Saputo has established itself as Canada’s leading producer of cheese with a share of approximately 38% of the Canadian natural cheese production.
2013
Re: Proposed acquisition of Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory Company Holdings Limited
On October 8, the Australian Competition Tribunal issued a notice about the Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory Company Holdings Limited, in relation to Saputo’s offer.
Here it is in part:
“Recommended $7.00 cash per share takeover offer from Saputo Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory Company Holdings Limited (ASX: WCB) (WCB) today announces that it has entered into a Bid Implementation Deed with Saputo Inc. (TSX: SAP) (Saputo) for a recommended off- market takeover offer by Saputo to acquire all of the shares of WCB for $7.00 cash per share (Offer).
The Board of Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory Company Holdings Limited unanimously recommends shareholders accept Saputo’s Offer, in the absence of a superior proposal.”
It continued:
“…Chairman of WCB, Terry Richardson, said:
“As well as the premium offered to WCB shareholders, Saputo’s commitments to WCB suppliers, customers and employees were critical factors in the Board’s decision to recommend Saputo’s Offer, in the absence of a superior proposal. We believe Saputo has recognised WCB’s 125 year long history and how critical our staff and suppliers are to the growth and success of our company and WCB’s importance to the local community more broadly.”
“Saputo does not have any current activities in Australia and has advised WCB that it does not intend to rationalise or redeploy any of WCB’s fixed assets. In fact, Saputo has advised WCB that it would be looking to invest further to expand WCB’s operations by increasing existing capacity or building additional capacity.”
2013
On October 31, 2013, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) featured an article written by Libby Price and Wendy Collis quoting Saputo CEO Lino Sapoto Jr, denying the family company was ‘dumping its takeover bid for Warrnambool Cheese and Butter and instead targeting its rival bidder, Bega Cheese.’
From the article:
“The ACCC this morning gave approval for the Bega bid for WCB. It will be weeks before the Foreign Investment Review Board rules on the Saputo bid.
Saputo chief executive Lino Saputo is in south-west Victoria trying to win over Warrnambool shareholders, and flatly denies speculation his company has been buying Bega shares.
Mr Saputo says he’s not concerned that Japanese company Kirin, which owns Lion Foods, has just bought a 10 per cent stake in WCB.
“There’s a lot of things in this process here that we didn’t see coming, to be honest with you, and we’re adjusting on a day to day basis.
“I don’t feel any threat at all from the Lion bid and Murray Goulburn bid or the Bega bid.
“I think our bid is very compelling, we’re looking at 50 per cent control and I think that is still very possible.”
2013
Saputo Ordered to Raise Bid for Warrnambool Cheese and Butter
On December 17/18, the Australian Financial Review’s Jared Lynch published an article revealing that the Takeovers Panel in the Warrnambool Cheese and Butter takeover race had ordered Saputo to raise its bid price for the milk processor.
From the article:
“… The Panel weighed into the three-way global bidding war for WCB, after Murray Goulburn and Bega Cheese complained that Saputo had misled the market about the value of its bid. The panel said it was “strongly of the view that unacceptable circumstances had occurred” after Saputo raised its bid to $9.20 a share, while at the same time WCB withdrew the payment of special dividends if the Canadian company’s stake reached more than 50 per cent. Murray Goulburn and Bega said the revised offer was effectively a reduction, considering the special dividends would have valued its bid at $9.56.
“The announcements put into place arrangements that were complex, created uncertainty and were most undesirable. The Panel would not want to see similar arrangements in future,” the panel’s counsel Alan Shaw said…”
2014
From Saputo’s website:
Saputo Enters Australia
Saputo acquired an interest of 87.92% of Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory Company Holdings Limited.
In January 2014, Jared Lynch, this time for the Sydney Morning Herald, called Saputo as the victor of the Warrnambool prize.
From his article:
“Canadian dairy major Saputo appears to have emerged as the winner in the fight to control Australia’s oldest listed milk processor, Warrnambool Cheese and Butter.
Bega Cheese has formally left the $500-million-plus race for Warrnambool, outlining plans to sell its 18.8 per cent stake to Saputo. This will catapult the Montreal-based company’s holding to more than 45 per cent, making it the single biggest shareholder.
Bega’s decision has left Saputo’s rival, Australia’s Murray Goulburn, considering the future of its bid and 17.5 per cent stake in Warrnambool.
Murray Goulburn’s options include selling to Saputo and securing a near $95 million windfall for its holding. Saputo has promised to pay $9.60 a share for WCB if it secures 90 per cent.”
To be continued… (Link to Part 4)
© Tess Lawrence
Tess Lawrence is Contributing editor-at-large for Independent Australia and her most recent article is The night Porter and allegation of rape.
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