A descendant of the founding father of Cadbury has renewed calls for takeover laws to be changed, one year after the Birmingham chocolate firm’s fate was sealed in its sale to Kraft.
It was this week last year that the Cadbury board caved in to the American giant’s approaches, giving their backing to Kraft’s £11.6 billion takeover bid in a move which sparked furious debate among politicians and anger from consumers about the future of the company.
Peter Cadbury, a City of London corporate financier descended from the Bournville firm’s founder George Cadbury, was among those who hit out at the short-term attitude of some shareholders, accusing them of selling out on the longer-term good of the company.
Speaking a year later, Mr Cadbury said it was too late to help the company that bears his name, but he repeated his support for new legislation to protect other potential UK takeover targets.
He said he wanted the law to change to remove the voting rights of short-term shareholders in a takeover situation, a suggestion former Cadbury chairman Roger Carr has also put forward.
Mr Cadbury said he would also like to see “serious consideration” of the reintroduction of a public interest test.
“The company was largely surrendered to Kraft as a result of a disproportionately large shareholding that was built up by hedge funds,” he said.
“I’m still very keen that the law be changed to stop people appearing on the register during a takeover being allowed to vote on the outcome.
“I’m determined that other well-run British companies shouldn’t suffer the same fate after 187 years.
“A simple change to stop these people voting is something I’m still as passionate about as a year ago. It’s too late to save Cadbury but possibly in time to save other companies.”
Meanwhile, attention has turned to the future ownership of Cadbury’s organic chocolate brand Green & Black’s, which was reported to be looking to buy itself out of Kraft’s ownership as staff struggle to retain their entrepreneurial spirit as part of the conglomerate.
Green & Black’s was founded as an ethical fairtrade and organic chocolate firm in 1991 by Whole Earth Foods entrepreneur Craig Sams and his wife Josephine Fairley.
Kraft Foods said it had no current plans to sell Green & Black’s, adding the brand was “in good hands”.
Since the Kraft takeover, employment relations at Cadbury have been among the most keenly-watched in the country, with the company’s U-turn on the closure of its Somerdale factory near Bristol sparking a national outcry.
Unions remaining concerned about the American firm’s high levels of debt as the clock ticks on Kraft’s two-year guarantee on manufacturing jobs in Bournville.
CADBURY TIMELINE
2009
* September 7 – Kraft surprises the London market with a cash and shares approach for Cadbury, valuing it at £10.2 billion.
* September 22 – After two weeks in which Cadbury insists Kraft’s offer is too low, it asks the Takeover Panel for a “put up or shut up” deadline. Kraft is later given until November 9 to make a formal bid.
* November 9 – Cadbury swiftly rejects the latest “derisory” bid, which is now worth £9.8 billion because Kraft’s shares have dropped in value since August.
* November 14 – Royal Bank of Scotland is heavily criticised after it emerges the state-controlled bank is helping to finance Kraft’s bid.
* December 14 – Cadbury launches its official defence to Kraft’s bid – promising shareholders higher dividends.
2010
* January 7 – Cadbury holds informal talks with Hershey about a friendly deal to avoid Kraft’s clutches.
* January 18 – Cadbury’s board recommends £12 billion sale to Kraft.
* January 19 – The chocolate giant’s staff take to the streets to protest the takeover.
* February 9 – Kraft reveals plans to close Cadbury’s Somerdale factory in Bristol, as work is transferred to Poland.
* March 4 – The Post reveals the first job losses to hit Birmingham since the Kraft takeover, with 150 white-collar workers in the legal, finance and communications departments at risk of redundancy.
* June 2 – National media reports claim Kraft is contending with a “brain drain” with top talent leaving Cadbury.
* July 31 – Ministers are urged to speed up plans for a “Cadbury Law” protecting British companies from hostile takeover.
* October 9 – On her first visit to Bournville Kraft chief executive Irene Rosenfeld says it has a “critical role” to play in the growth of the group.
* December 21 – It emerges Cadbury’s Dairy Milk bar will shrink in the New Year – but keep its £1 price tag.
2011
January 4 – Former Cadbury chairman Roger Carr is knighted.
