Location: Toronto, Canada · Tampa, Florida · USA

Type: Corporate Turnaround · Cost Restructuring · Change in Control

The Company

Cott Corporation was the world's largest manufacturer of private-label soft drinks and beverages — supplying Walmart, Loblaw, Costco, Tesco, Publix, and Target under their own store brands. Founded by the Pencer family, Cott's relationship with Sam Walton was foundational — Sam's Choice and Sam's Cola played a defining role in Walmart's evolution from discounter to value-forward retailer. Today Cott's legacy lives in Walmart's private label portfolio, which accounts for over a quarter of total grocery sales.

The Situation

Gonzalez joined as CHRO under new CEO Brent Willis, who had two immediate mandates — relocate the HQ from Toronto to Tampa, Florida, and position Cott for private equity acquisition.

Gonzalez designed a Change in Control plan to retain key players through the transition. A large PE firm agreed in principle to acquire the company. The Board, wanting more money, extended negotiations.

On September 17, 2008 — the subprime mortgage crisis hit. All large transactions froze overnight. The deal was dead.

The Crisis

With the PE deal collapsed, the Board terminated the CEO and appointed an interim while a search began. The new leadership team — built by Willis and Gonzalez — immediately faced an existential threat:

The company's debt load was unsustainable. Stock collapsed to $0.50 per share — risking delisting from the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Four simultaneous rescue efforts launched:

CFO — an ex-Walmart executive — renegotiated debt covenants with lenders to buy time

Head of Manufacturing — from Tropicana — renegotiated key commodity prices: sugar, high fructose corn syrup, aluminum, and plastic pellets

European Head — built with two Pepsi Cola International sales executives — aggressively sold Royal Crown International concentrate into new markets, generating critical new revenue

Gonzalez — recognizing his peers were too emotionally attached to their teams, personally took over the execution of a company-wide people restructuring plan

The Restructuring

Since all senior leaders were reluctant to cut their own teams, Gonzalez took sole ownership of the people restructuring plan — executing it with the precision and speed the situation demanded.

The result

• $600M+ in costs eliminated
• Stock recovered from $0.50 → $10+ per share
• Cott became the best-performing stock in the market that year
• The business was stabilized and positioned for future growth

The Final Chapter

An ex-Cott executive who had previously been terminated gathered an investor group and acquired a large portion of the company's common shares — triggering a Change in Control event. The Board approved Gonzalez's CiC package, structured on the same terms as the PanamCo plan he had designed years earlier.

Key Results

$0.50 → $10+ stock price · $600M+ in costs eliminated · Best-performing stock that year · Debt covenants renegotiated · Commodity costs restructured · Royal Crown International expanded into new markets · Full CiC plan honored

Management Insight

In a crisis, the hardest decisions are the people decisions — because every cut has a face. The leaders most attached to their teams are often the least able to make those calls objectively. Sometimes the most valuable thing a senior executive can do is take the hardest decisions off everyone else's plate — absorbing the personal cost of difficult choices so the organization can survive and eventually thrive.