Chocolate giant Barry Callebaut has played down reports that the company’s majority shareholder wants to increase its stake in the business.
A report in Swiss business publication Handelszeitung claimed that Jacobs Holding wanted to up its shareholding in Callebaut to 50.5%.
The weekly paper carried an interview with Andreas Jacobs, a member of the holding company, and quoted him as saying the shareholding group wants to “expand the stakes in the long term”.
However, a Callebaut spokesperson told just-food today (13 May) that the family had no intention of increasing its stake in the Swiss chocolate maker.
“There was some misinterpretation,” the spokesperson said. “[Mr Jacobs] said that the family definitely wants to keep the participation in the company, not to increase its participation.”
