Group structure and shareholders
Group structure
The Lindt & Sprüngli Group is a globally operating corporate group that is active in the development, production and sale of chocolate products in the premium quality segment. The holding company, Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG, with headquarters in Kilchberg ZH, is a listed company with its shares listed on SIX Swiss Exchange. The market capitalization, based on the market prices as of the end of 2023, amounts to approx. CHF 24.0 billion.
The management structure of the Group is lean. While the Board of Directors handles management, strategy, and supervisory duties at the highest level, the CEO, as supported by the Executive Chair, and the other members of the Group Management are responsible for operational management tasks. The Executive Chair and the other members of the Board of Directors are elected annually by the General Meeting. The Chair is supported by a Vice-Chair, who is appointed by the Board of Directors from among its members. Further, the Board of Directors may designate an experienced, independent member of the Board of Directors as Lead Independent Director in order to support adequate control mechanisms, if deemed appropriate and in the best interests of the Group. The Board of Directors is further supported by Committees formed from among its members in specific areas.
In addition to the Articles of Association, the organization, duties and composition of the Board of Directors, including the Executive Chair and the Lead Independent Director (if appointed), the Committees of the Board of Directors, the CEO and the Group Management, are governed by the Organizational Regulations and the Committee Charters, which are all available on the website of Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG.
- Organizational Regulations
- Audit Committee Charter
- Compensation and Nomination Committee Charter
- Sustainability Committee Charter
- The duties of the Board of Directors
- The duties of the Executive Chair
- The duties of the Vice-Chair
- The duties of the Lead Independent Director
- The Committees
- The duties of the Group Management
The consolidation scope of Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG includes Swiss and foreign non-listed subsidiaries, a list of which is set out in the notes to the consolidated financial statements, along with details about these companies, such as name, domicile, share capital, participation, etc.
Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG holds no interests in listed companies within its consolidation scope.
Major shareholders
Pursuant to a disclosure notification as of August 30, 2017, BlackRock Inc., New York, USA, as parent company had a shareholding of 6,063 registered shares (with respect to 1,092 of the 6,063 registered shares, it has the right to exercise the voting rights at its own discretion) or 4.50% of the company’s share capital. According to the share register of Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG as of December 31, 2023, the “Fonds für Pensionsergänzungen der Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG” and the “Finanzierungsstiftung für die Vorsorgeeinrichtungen der Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG”, both in Kilchberg ZH, held, as a group, a total of 20,784 registered shares corresponding to 15.43% of the share capital and the voting rights of the company (according to the last disclosure as of November 25, 2013, the group, which at this point in time included the “Lindt Cocoa Foundation” and the “Lindt Chocolate Competence Foundation”, held 29,143 registered shares corresponding to 21.32% of the share capital and the voting rights). As per the disclosure notification on the official notices page of the SIX Swiss Exchange platform, on December 14, 2023, the “Lindt Cocoa Foundation”, and the “Lindt Chocolate Competence Foundation”, both in Kilchberg ZH, left the existing group as group members within the meaning of the disclosure rules (i.e. Article 120 subsection 1 and Article 121 Financial Market Infrastructure Act (FinMIA)) around the “Fonds für Pensionsergänzungen der Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG” and the “Finanzierungsstiftung für die Vorsorgeeinrichtungen der Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG” without the sale of any shares.
During the reporting year, no further disclosure notices were published on the official notices page of the SIX Swiss Exchange platform. Details and disclosures of previous years can be found on the official notices page of SIX Swiss Exchange website.
Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG has no cross shareholdings.