Lake Forest Entrepreneur Sued over Bow Truss Sale

CHICAGO, IL - Lake Forest-based television host and CEO Marcus Lemonis has been accused of a plot to drive down the sale price of Chicago-based coffee roaster and chain of cafes Bow Truss in a $26 million lawsuit filed Wednesday in Cook County Circuit Court.

In the suit, Bow Truss alleges that Lemonis committed fraud by withdrawing from a deal to buy the company. It says he "started disparaging" the company "in social media and to the press" by making public his concerns about the company's finances "for the purpose of putting [it] out of business and being able to acquire the business for little or no money."

Bow Truss claims Lemonis and his company, ML Foods, promised to send it $180,000 in late December to keep the business afloat, but it added a series of conditions just a few hours before the money was expected.

Lemonis, host of CNBC's "The Profit" and CEO of Lincolnshire-based Camping World, signed a letter in December stating his intent to buy Bow Truss, which later closed most of its cafes as employees reported they had stopped getting paid.

The suit alleges Lemonis committed fraud by pulling out of the deal and expressing his concerns about the financial well-being of the company to the media.

All of Bow Truss's Chicago-area retail locations shut up shop Jan. 12 after employees walked out. At the time, Bow Truss was reportedly behind on its bills to landlords, vendors, workers and others after its planned sale to Lemonis and his company ML Foods, according to DNAinfo.

Lemonis laughed off the lawsuit, telling Crain's Chicago Business he was surprised Bow Truss had even filed it, since a letter of intent is nonbinding.

He promised to spend "whatever I have to to make sure he doesn't get a penny from me," referring to Phil Tadros, founder of Bow Truss, who he called "a desperate guy."

It's the third lawsuit filed by Tadros against a past or potential business associate in the past four months. He has also sued one of his investors for defamation and a former partner in a chicken restaurant for breach of contract. Tadros's Bowmanville brewery operated without a state-issued brewing license for five months, according to a report from Crain's Chicago Business.

Photo: Edsel Little (CC)