Candy maker's future uncertain after co-CEO's death




After the April 18 death of 47-year-old Pietro Ferrero, co-CEO of Italian candy maker Ferrero SpA, in a bicycle accident, the company’s future direction is uncertain, according to

a

Wall Street Journal

report.

Ferrero SpA makes Nutella chocolate and hazelnut spread and developed Tic Tac mints. It generated sales of $9.5 billion in fiscal 2010.

Although the executive shared the title of CEO with his brother Giovanni, 46, he was widely regarded inside the halls of Italian finance as the company’s top manager. Mr. Ferrero was also viewed by bankers and analysts as a modernizing force in a company known for its insular management….

Pietro Ferrero’s grandfather, also named Pietro, who founded the company, focused on inventing candies rather than making acquisitions, as did Pietro’s father, Michele, 85, the

Journal

article said. An analyst told the

Journal

that the younger Pietro Ferrero “showed more of a propensity to look” for acquisition opportunities.

When Pietro and Giovanni took over operations in the late 1990s, Michele “continued to have sway over strategy, eschewing the kinds of cross-border acquisitions that transformed rivals into global players,” according to the

Journal

report.

In 2009, Pietro “challenged his father’s deal-averse approach,” advocating for a bid for U.K. candy maker Cadbury PLC. Ferrero dropped out of the bidding because Pietro Ferrero “was ultimately unable to overcome his family’s skepticism about a potential deal,” the article said. Ferrero recently considered but ultimately rejected move to join a consortium of Italian companies to take over Italian dairy Parmalat SpA, the

Journal

article said. (Source:

Wall Street Journal,

April 19, 2011.)

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