Katjes sells 11% stake in chocolate manufacturing firm Halloren

Katjes International has sold its 11% stake in Hamburg chocolate manufacturing firm Halloren Schokoladenfabrik to Charlie Investors.

Katjes did not disclose the reason for divestment of the stake.

Charlie Investors is a company backed by the German-Canadian family Ehlert and the Illmann family. In 2017, it purchased a majority stake in Halloren’s from investor Paul Morzynski.

For more than two decades, Paul Morzynski was the majority shareholder of Halloren Schokoladenfabrik until he divested the ownership to Charlie Investors.

Katjes International managing partner Tobias Bachmüller said: “We are pleased with the mutually agreed solution that we consider positive for Halloren and its shareholders.”

The Halloren business was established in 1804.

Katjes was involved in a series of acquisitions last year, along with its venture capital fund Katjesgreenfood.

In December 2018, the German company acquired a stake in Sugar Daddies, a Cologne-based cookie dough start-up. During the same month, Katjesgreenfood acquired a 10% stake in The Rainforest Company, a Berlin-based start-up that manufacturers ‘superfood’.

The Rainforest Company offers organic, wild-harvested Açaí Pulp to private customers and retail outlets.

In November 2018, Katjesgreenfood invested in Portland-based Wild Friends, which offers nut butter without palm oil.

Last year, it also invested in a New York start-up Fora that produces vegan butter.