Felicity Loudon, a great-great-granddaughter of Cadbury PLC founder John Cadbury, is fighting to prevent an attempted takeover of the chocolate maker by Kraft Foods Inc.,
the
Wall Street Journa
l
reported.
The legendary chocolatier should not, she says, wind up controlled by the maker of what she calls “plastic cheese.”
Loudon, an interior designer, argues that “the company … is a piece of British history that should not follow a host of other brands into foreign ownership,” the
Journal
reported. She is joined by “a small group of Britons,” the report said. She told the
Journal
that her stake in Cadbury is “insignificant.”
Whatever public sentiment Ms. Loudon and others can summon against a takeover is unlikely to affect Cadbury’s board. One board member said the body’s only consideration was the interest of shareholders and the price they would get.
The British tabloid
Mail
delivered to Business Secretary Lord Peter Mandelson 9,000 coupons clipped from its pages by readers that asked Lord Mandelson to “prevent the takeover of Cadbury”; he said the government wouldn’t take action against a sale, the
Journal
article said. A motion proposed by Member of Parliament Lynne Jones in November that supported keeping Cadbury in British hands received only 36 signatures, according to the report.
The
Journal
reported that another Cadbury descendant, Peter Cadbury,
has voiced another concern: an extended bidding process will increase the number of short-term investors, such as hedge funds and speculators. Mr. Cadbury, a corporate finance adviser, fears that will allow “arbitrageurs” to help determine the outcome…. Mr. Cadbury suggests that a company’s voting register should be frozen when a hostile bid emerges.
(Source:
Wall Street Journal,
Dec. 2, 2009.)
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