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Woman with Aldi shopping basket: new structure to ensure family peace
Photo:
Rolf Vennenbernd / dpa
For years, the heirs of the discounter empire Aldi Nord had fought for power and money, including in court.
Now the two family tribes want to end the conflict with an agreement.
With the participation of the family foundations, an agreement was reached to settle the differences of opinion and legal disputes, according to a company statement.
The Aldi Nord group of companies is to be reorganized in the next few months and brought together under a uniform holding company in the form of a Stiftung & Co. KG.
This is the will of the family tribes and the foundations.
Holding should be structured on an equal footing
So far, the fortunes of the group of companies have been backed by three family foundations based in Nortorf in Schleswig-Holstein, in which families also discreetly park their assets: the Lukas, Markus and Jakobus foundations.
Far-reaching corporate decisions require the consent of all three foundations, most recently there was Zoff about influence in these foundations and payments, especially from the Jakobus Foundation to the heirs.
In 2017, the Schleswig Higher Administrative Court declared a change in the statutes of the Jakobus Foundation to be legal, with which Berthold Albrecht had limited the influence of his children on the fate of the discounter shortly before his death.
Accordingly, only two family members should be represented on the foundation board.
In addition, a person from the board of directors of the Aldi Nord group of companies and a lawyer from the company's environment are to be added.
However, the family objected.
The new structure should put an end to this power struggle.
The company announced that the new holding company should be owned equally by the family foundations of the Theo Albrecht family and half by the Berthold Albrecht family.
The regulatory framework for the management and supervision of the holding company is designed with equal rights and parity between the family members.
According to the company, in order for the new group and foundation structure to be implemented, coordination with the tax authorities and the approval of the foundation supervisory authority of the family foundations involved are still required.
Apr