Kraft chief exec snubs request to appear before the Commons
KRAFT executives came under fire from MPs yesterday after chief executive Irene Rosenfeld refused to appear before a committee looking at the US food-maker’s takeover of Cadbury.
Three underlings were left to defend Kraft’s behaviour during its £11.5bn hostile takeover last year.
Kraft bosses told the business select committee that they couldn’t guarantee that manufacturing in the UK will stay in place after 2012.
The firm was previously slammed by the committee and the Takeover Panel for announcing the closure of Somerdale factory near Bristol just days after the takeover was finalised.
Marc Firestone, executive vice president at Kraft, said Rosenfeld was very interested in the hearings, though committee chairman Adrian Bailey MP said her no-show was “a slap in the face” for MPs and Cadbury’s 5,500 employees in the UK.
Firestone admitted that he had no authority to shut down factories, when asked about his competence to answer the panel’s questions.
The government is currently looking at introducing a “Cadbury law”?to protect UK companies from predatory takeovers.