LONDON/CHICAGO: Kraft Foods won control of Cadbury on Tuesday as holders of almost 72 per cent of the British chocolatier’s stock accepted the £11.7 billion (US$18.6 billion) takeover that will create the world’s biggest confectioner.
STRONG SUPPORT: US group Kraft Foods announced Tuesday that it has won almost 72 per cent support from Cadbury shareholders to seal a takeover deal for the British maker of Dairy Milk chocolate. A variety of Cadbury’s chocolate products is pictured above. — AFP photo
Kraft needed just 50 per cent plus one share to take control of Cadbury. Chief executive Irene Rosenfeld expects to complete the deal in the coming weeks as remaining Cadbury shareholders come forward to accept the cash and stock bid.
“We are confident that, given the strong support that we got in the tender, in the coming days and weeks we will be able to finish the process,” Rosenfeld said in a telephone interview from London on Tuesday as she munched on a Cadbury’s Dairy Milk chocolate bar.
The majority approval caps a five-month battle for Cadbury that tested Rosenfeld’s leadership and drew harsh words from Cadbury’s top brass in the confectioner’s defence.
Rosenfeld is taking the next steps toward integrating the world’s No. 2 confectioner into the second-largest food maker. She met on Tuesday with UK Business Secretary Peter Mandelson, who wants to protect about 4,500 British Cadbury jobs.
Kraft promised US$675 million of annual cost savings from the deal, which means some of Cadbury’s 45,000 workers around the world will lose their jobs, analysts said.
Rosenfeld did not make promises about specific jobs, instead telling Reuters that the deal is meant to increase sales of Cadbury and Kraft products.
“The discussion of the UK job situation has been very exaggerated,” Rosenfeld said. “We actually expect this will be a net positive for the UK.”
Cadbury’s leaders will leave; chairman Roger Carr and the board will go after certifying Cadbury’s 2009 results.
Cadbury CEO Todd Stitzer and chief financial officer Andrew Bonfield will help Kraft integrate Cadbury into the Northfield, Illinois-based food maker, but will step out of the direct chain of command, Rosenfeld said.
Cadbury’s workers gathered in central London as the votes were counted to urge the government to protect Cadbury’s British workforce and future investment at its British sites as they join with Kraft’s 98,000 global staff.
Kraft shares rose 1.6 per cent. Cadbury closed up 1 percent at 840 pence.
The Kraft-Cadbury combination brings together Cadbury’s Dairy Milk chocolate, Halls cough drops and Trident gum with Kraft’s portfolio of Milka and Toblerone chocolates, Oreo cookies, Maxwell House coffee and Philadelphia cream cheese. — AFP