MEC to be sold for a second time in less than 5 years

Founded in the 1970s, Vancouver’s own Mountain Equipment Company (MEC) is being sold again, less than five years after being offloaded to an American private investment firm.

CityNews received a copy of an email from a wholesale association distributed to MEC suppliers, dated Dec. 27, informing them that the former cooperative is “in the process of being sold.”

According to the association, the company’s shares will be sold, “so legal entity would remain the same but under new ownership.”

The new buyer is yet to be disclosed, but will be announced once the sale is completed, the association says.

The transaction is expected to be finalized by the end of this month or by the beginning of February.

The sale comes after MEC was acquired by L.A.-based company Kingswood Capital Management in 2020 after months of controversy involving its board and election activity.

At the time of the sale, the company was Canada’s largest co-op by membership, sporting more than 3.5 million members, though only a small number are active shoppers.

One supplier to MEC tells CityNews on Friday that the news of the sale comes as no surprise. According to the supplier, the company has not paid its invoices in months and is currently on hold in their credit department.

According to the association, MEC will be providing suppliers an update on its delayed payments once the sale has gone through.

CityNews has reached out to MEC for more information.

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