The Meltdown at Reddy Ice

Back in April, I looked at the many problems confronting Reddy Ice and noted that it was “less than clear when or whether it will be able to free itself from its problems, many of them self-imposed.”

It’s becoming clearer. The country’s largest distributor of packaged ice has suspended its quarterly dividend and installed a new chief operating officer. It also put Ben Key, its head of sales, on paid leave because he was involved with “matters that are under investigation,” according to the company.

Those matters, we must assume, include the charge that Reddy was involved in a massive price-fixing scheme. The feds raided its offices in March. So it has taken at least six months before the company decided its sales chief was up to no good. And when they did, they put him on paid leave.

Meanwhile, the company continues to bleed money and its stock price is in the dumper.

Paul D. Smith, the new COO, has for Procter & Gamble and PepsiCo. Most recently, he was the sales veep at Cadbury Schweppes.

The federal probe (assisted by 20 state attorneys general) is being helped by a corporate whistleblower.