FINLAND: Cloetta Fazer boss cools split rumours

By just-food.com | 28 September 2007

The chief executive of Nordic confectionery group Cloetta Fazer today (28 September) moved to cool reports that the company could be split in two.

Jesper Åberg, the company's managing director and CEO, told just-food that he is unaware of plans to divide the company amid tensions between its major shareholders.

Reports in Finland claimed that a dispute among the company's owners had reached a stage where splitting the business in two had become an attractive option.

Åberg said he had not heard of any talks to split the Cloetta Fazer business in two. "As far as I am aware, there have not been any discussions," Åberg said.

Cloetta Fazer was formed in 2000 when Finnish food group Fazer merged its confectionery business with Swedish competitor Cloetta.

Disagreements between the Fazer family, which owns a majority stake in the business, and the Svenfelt family, the family behind the Cloetta business, have reached the courtroom. In 2006, the Svenfelt family issued a lawsuit against the Fazers over the majority ownership of the Cloetta Fazer business.

Companies: Cloetta Fazer