Maria owned a successful dairy products company that had been doing business for the last 22 years. Her children had been pushing her to let in other investors into the business so that they could reduce their dependence on debt capital.
The company had taken loans to enable the rapid expansion that the business had undergone following customer demand for their niche products. Her cousins Tom and Philomena had taken an interest in the business and put in some money in return for a 10 percent stake each in the company.
