TETRA LAVAL OWNERS BUY 20PC IFF STAKE
Billionaire siblings have emerged as top shareholders in International Flavors & Fragrances
ATRIO of billionaire siblings known for inheriting the privately-held packaging giant Tetra Laval have snapped up nearly 20 per cent of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc (IFF) over two years, becoming the company’s top shareholder.
Kirsten, Finn and Jorn Rausing — who control the Tetra Laval family food carton business that their grandfather founded — have become top investors in IFF and other firms using an entity known as the Haldor Foundation in Liechtenstein, said sources.
Filings show that Haldor controls a Singaporean shell fund called Winder Investment Pte Ltd, which since 2016 has amassed a US$2.54 billion (RM10.58 billion) stake in IFF, the world’s second largest maker of scents and flavours.
There is no other publicly available information on Haldor because it is not listed commercially. The Liechtenstein Office of Justice said only authorised people could access information about the foundation.
A spokesman for the Rausing family confirmed that the three siblings were Haldor’s beneficiaries, and added the foundation’s investments are not connected to Tetra Laval.
The mystery of who controls Winder Investment has kept IFF investors and analysts guessing for at least a year.
The company, which sells scents and flavours that go into everything from perfumes and detergents to fizzy drinks and frozen meals, banked sales of US$3.4 billion (RM14.17 billion) last year and dates back to the 1880s.
A supplier to thousands of consumer companies, including Procter & Gamble Co, IFF in May announced plans to buy Israeli rival Frutarom for US$7.1 billion.
The Rausing siblings’ fortune has roots in Sweden dating to the founding of the Tetra Pak packaging company, now part of Tetra Laval.
While shareholder activists have rocked the consumer industry in recent years, targeting major companies from Nestle SA to P&G and Campbell Soup Co, that is not the Rausings’ intent at IFF said sources.
Rather, they are investing their dividends from Tetra Laval in “fairly safe stocks” in the consumer products industry, which they understand.