The daughter of former Campbell Soup Co. Chairman John T. Dorrance Jr. has reaffirmed her vow to fight any attempt by rival family shareholder groups to sell the food industry giant. In a statement released Sunday by their New York law firm, Mary Alice Malone and her husband, Stuart, owners of about 10 percent of the company's outstanding stock, confirmed their ``commitment to the continued independence of Campbell Soup Company.'' ``We have always considered our investment in Campbell to be long-term,'' said the statement attributed to Ms. Malone. Signs of a possible rift in the Dorrance family, which has controlled the Camden, N.J.-based company for nearly a century, has fueled speculation that major stockholders are split on the issue of whether to sell the company. Ms. Malone, a company director, and her two brothers, John T. Dorrance III and Bennett Dorrance, together hold about 31 percent of the company's outstanding shares. In recent weeks, a group comprised of Dorrance cousins has announced its intention in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission to press for a sale of the company. Last week, Campbell filled its long-vacant top spot by hiring David W. Johnson, former head of Gerber Products Co., as its new chief executive officer. ``We are extremely excited about David W. Johnson's immense managerial talents and his contagious enthusiasm,'' Ms. Malone's statement continued. ``In particular, we are inspired by his proven track record of dealing successfully with the myriad of complex intangibles that arise in very large family-held companies.''
