The Danish family company LEGO will only consider an IPO as a very last option, where no one in the family would want to run the toy company anymore.
Thomas Kirk Kristiansen, who belongs to the fourth generation of the family business, said this in an interview with the Danish newspaper Børsen.
“I don’t think a stock exchange listing and the associated ownership will favour LEGO. But it can’t be completely ruled out because we could theoretically end up in a situation where none of the future generations would want to take over,” said Kirk Kristiansen.
Thomas Kirk Kristiansen took over Monday as chairman of the investment fund Kirkbi, which owns 75 percent of LEGO, from his father, Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen. As part of the transfer, the Kirk Kristiansen family has set up a foundation called ‘K2 Fonden af 2023’. That foundation will be able to use its voting rights in case of disagreements between the family members.
According to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, Thomas Kirk Kristiansen, his siblings, and his father have a combined net worth of about $20 billion. In addition to the interest in LEGO, they also own stocks, bonds and real estate through Kirkbi.