The Fingerhut brand has passed through several ownerships during its existence, including onetime ownership by American Can Company and its successor Primerica, Federated Department Stores (1999), and Petters Group Worldwide (2002), and Bain Capital Ventures (2004).
Sunbeam notified Pentalpha of the lawsuit the next month, but Pentalpha, undeterred, went on to sell the fryers to Fingerhut Corporation and Montgomery Ward & Co., which each resold the fryers in the United States under their respective labels.