Dr Oetker, the German conglomerate which includes food, beverage, hotel, chemical and logistics interests, is to undergo a business split, following disagreement between shareholder groups over the direction of the business.
Under the terms of the split, the Dr. August Oetker KG business, which includes the group's pizza, bakery and dessert business, will remain under the control of Richard Oetker, Rudolf Louis Schweizer, Philip Oetker, Markus von Luttitz and Ludwig Graf Douglas.
This shareholder group will also take charge of Dr. August Oetker Nahrungsmittel KG, Conditorei Coppenrath & Wiese KG, and Radeberger Gruppe KG, as well as a number of hotels owned by the group, including the Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes.
Elsewhere, Dr. Alfred Oetker, Carl Ferdinand Oetker and Julia Johanna Oetker take over the ownership of Henkell & Co. Sektkellerei KG, Martin Braun Backmittel und Essenzen KG, as well as a different bank of hotels, including Le Bristol in Paris.
Separation Agreement
'With this decision, the shareholder groups overcome their different ideas about the management and strategy of the Oetker Group,' the business said in a statement. 'A corresponding separation agreement has been signed by all owners.'
The group added that the decision to split the business 'has no impact' on the employees of the various companies within the Oetker Group.
The split will alleviate what has been several years of internal squabbling over the business – when he died in 2007, Rudolf-August Oetker, the grandson of the company founder, left eight heirs from three marriages.
In May, the business said that it saw its 2020 full-year sales rise by close to 10%, on the back of improved food sales.
© 2021 European Supermarket Magazine. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. For more A-Brands news, click here. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
