Did you inherit some Sara Lee or Consolidated Foods shares? You may be leaving up to $44.97 million on the table. The Dutch version of the Financial Times, Het Fiancieele Dagblad, recently reported a curious story that needs attention in the U.S. If you have some Sara Lee shares in an account that may not be traced or tracked to you easily by third parties, or have a number of paper certificates lying around in the attic that look like these:
Source: Kabukencafe
Source: Scripophily.com
You could be entitled to a fat payout of about $13.70 per share.
Sara Lee spun out its coffee and tea operations as DE Master Blenders in 2012. Sara Lee shareholders first got $3 per share in the form of a special dividend and subsequently one share of DE Master Blenders.
DE Master Blenders was made private by a entrepreneurial German family through an investment vehicle at about $13.70 per share.
After making the deal, it turned out 23,000 Sara Lee shareholders, which used to be kind of a dividend stalwart, could not be found. Initially $76.7 million, which translates to $1,974 on average per holder, could not be given to the rightful owner.
The German Reimann family then hired a law firm called Stibbe and a private investigator to search out these (mostly) U.S. citizens.
At this point there is still a bag with approximately $44.97 million held by the Dutch state waiting for these owners to come forward.
I was skeptical the company tried very hard to find these shareholders. After all, it is nice to get a $44 million discount when you are buying a company right? It turns out, however, the money will go to the Dutch State if shareholders do not come forward before the spring of 2034.
Stock certificates like the ones pictured above could be among stacks of papers you inherited. They could be in a safety deposit box or a forgotten safe. They may even be in an electronic account that cannot be traced correctly. To make matters more difficult, Sara Lee Corp. was named Consolidated Foods pre-1985.
Check your attic to see if there is any chance you have $44 million lying around. As far as electronic shares go, Sara Lee went on as Hillshire Brands but was later bought up by Tyson Foods (TSN, Financial). If you inherited some Tyson Foods or Hillshire Brands (LSE:HSH, Financial) shares electronically (or used to own these), it may pay to start tracking back to when you owned exactly what.
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