Lego heir sells 6.32 billion kroner of shares in toymaker’s family firm

ONE of the billionaire heirs to the Lego family fortune has sold shares in the company that controls the Danish toymaker for about 6.32 billion kroner (S$1.2 billion).

Sofie Kirk Kristiansen, 47, the great-granddaughter of Lego’s founder, sold 4 million shares in Kirkbi for about 158,000 kroner a piece, according to a filing with the Danish company register.

The proceeds were paid out as a form of dividend and the shares were cancelled by Kirkbi, meaning that the other family members increased their stakes in the family firm, Kirkbi said in an emailed statement on Thursday (Nov 30).

“Earlier this year, Sofie Kirk Kristiansen agreed with the other shareholders to sell a small portion of her shares to Kirkbi in order to dedicate a greater part of her time and resources to a number of nature conservation projects,” Kirkbi said.

Kirkbi owns 75 per cent of Lego, as well as equity stakes in a number of companies, bonds and properties. Its assets have swelled to about 166 billion kroner, mainly driven by rising profits at Lego, which has grown to become the world’s largest toy company. Thomas Kirk Kristiansen, who’s Sofie Kirk Kristiansen’s brother, took over as Kirkbi chairman after their father, Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, stepped down earlier this year. BLOOMBERG