By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com – International Flavors & Fragrances stock (NYSE:IFF) was up 2% Thursday after CNBC reported that Carl Icahn owns 4% stake in the New York-based fragrance company.
Icahn, founder and majority shareholder of Icahn Enterprises, is a longtime activist investor. Over the years, he has won many a battle with executives and boards for improving shareholder returns. Most recently, Icahn has pushed Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) to drop its acquisition of natural gas company Questar Pipeline after he took a substantial stake in the former.
Separately, IFF today said Frank Clyburn will succeed Andreas Fibig as chief executive officer and a member of its board, effective February 14.
Clyburn joins IFF from Merck, where he served as executive vice president and president of Human Health, a release by IFF said.
IFF also announced its decision to separate the roles of chairman and CEO. Dale Morrison, long-standing IFF Director, will assume the role of non-executive chairman of the board starting on Feb. 14.
The company declared its third-quarter numbers in November. Net sales in the September quarter were up 142% at $3 billion. While net profit more than doubled to $194 million, adjusted profit per share was higher by only a cent to 76 cents owing to more than doubling of outstanding shares.