Takasago CEO passes away; new appointment

By Guy Montague-Jones

- Last updated on GMT

Related tags Chief financial officer Management occupations

Japanese flavors and fragrances firm Takasago has appointed a new company head after former CEO Hiroki Take passed away unexpectedly last month.

In a statement, Takasago said the company was saddened to announce that Hiroki Take died suddenly of heart failure on March 24 at the age of 65.

The funeral and farewell ceremony will be held privately but a company funeral is also planned for a later date.

Appointment of new CEO

Following an extraordinary meeting of the board of directors Takasago appointed Ritaro Igaki as the new president and chief executive of the company.

He takes over at the head of Takasago after filling various senior roles at the company.

Igaki first joined Takasago in 1971 and has held various senior positions since including chief financial officer. Most recently he served as executive vice president and chief director of administration and accounting.

Global footprint

With consolidated sales of 124,231 million yen ($1,233m) in 2008, Takasago has 15 creation centers and 14 production sites around the world. It is therefore one of the largest manufacturers of flavors and fragrances.

Recently Takasago announced plans to expand its global footprint still further.

In October last year the company acquired New-Jersey based Wessel Fragrances, which operates in both the household and personal care fragrance fields.

“We expect that the synergistic relationship between Wessel’s customer base and Takasago’s creative and technical strength will enable us to develop and expand our fragrance business in global markets, particularly in the US,”​ said the company in a statement.

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