• Approval of the creation of authorized share capital to partly finance the acquisition of the Cocoa Ingredients Division of Petra Foods Ltd., Singapore
• Election of Fernando Aguirre and Tim Minges as new Board members ​

173 shareholders attended today’s Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders (EGM) of Barry Callebaut AG, the world’s leading manufacturer of cocoa and chocolate products. They represented 3,683,249 shares or 71.24% of the share capital. The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Dr. Andreas Jacobs, Chairman of the Board.

Creation of authorized capital approved

As announced on December 12, 2012, Barry Callebaut agreed to acquire the Cocoa Ingredients Division from Petra Foods Ltd., Singapore. For the purpose of partly financing this acquisition, Barry Callebaut’s Board of Directors called for an EGM (see press release of March 27, 2013). Today, the shareholders agreed to the creation of authorized share capital of a maximum nominal amount of CHF 9,300,000 by issuing a maximum of 500,000 fully paid-up registered shares with a value of CHF 18.60. The Board of Directors can execute the respective capital increase until April 22, 2015 either by way of a rights issue or a private placement through an Accelerated Bookbuilding.

Election of two new members to the Board of Directors

The shareholders also confirmed the election of Fernando Aguirre and Tim E. Minges as new members of the Board of Directors of Barry Callebaut for the current term of office until the next Annual General Meeting on December 11, 2013.

Fernando Aguirre served as the Chairman and CEO of Chiquita Brands International Inc. from 2004 until 2012. Presently Mr. Aguirre is a consultant to Chiquita and a Director of Levi Strauss & Co. as well as a Director at Aetna Inc.
Tim E. Minges is currently Chairman of PepsiCo Greater China Region and a member of PepsiCo’s Executive Committee. Mr. Minges also serves on the Board of Tingyi-Asahi Beverage. 

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Barry Callebaut:
With annual sales of about CHF 4.8 billion (EUR 4.0 billion / USD 5.2 billion) in fiscal year 2011/12, Zurich-based Barry Callebaut is the world’s leading manufacturer of high-quality cocoa and chocolate – from the cocoa bean to the finest chocolate product. Barry Callebaut operates out of 30 countries, runs more than 45 production facilities and employs a diverse and dedicated workforce of about 6,000 people. Barry Callebaut serves the entire food industry focusing on industrial food manufacturers, artisans and professional users of chocolate (such as chocolatiers, pastry chefs or bakers), the latter with its two global brands Callebaut^® and Cacao Barry^®. Barry Callebaut is the global leader in cocoa and chocolate innovations and provides a comprehensive range of services in the fields of product development, processing, training and marketing. Cost leadership is another important reason why global as well as local food manufacturers work together with Barry Callebaut. Through its Cocoa Horizons initiative and research activities, the company engages with farmers, farmer organizations and other partners to help ensure future supplies of cocoa and improve farmer livelihoods.