Cadbury boss could walk off with £12m

The American boss of Cadbury stands to walk away with around £12 million following the £11.7 billion Kraft takeover deal, while thousands of workers across the Midlands have been left fearing for their jobs.

Although he is almost certain to lose his job, Todd Stitzer will be one of the deal's big winners. The 57-year-old will get around £7 million for the shares he owns and another £5 million profit on his share options. He was one of the most vocal critics of Kraft during the months-long takeover battle, but if he is sacked he will also be entitled to a year's pay of around £3 million.

Then there is his pension pot, worth around £15 million after his 25 years with the firm, which would pay out around £1.5 million a year when he retires.

Cadbury chairman Roger Carr, who is also likely to face the axe from incoming Kraft boss Irene Rosenfeld, has 53,000 shares worth around £4.5 million under the deal.

But, for Cadbury's 7,000 UK employees – 2,500 of them based in the West Midlands including those at the firm's spiritual home at Bournville in Birmingham – the future is much less rosy.

Ms Rosenfeld said last night that Kraft felt there were more opportunities for "meaningful cost savings" than had previously been thought. In corporate speak, that means job cuts.

Those at the front of the firing line are likely to be workers at Cadbury's corporate offices in Uxbridge, West London, whose work would simply duplicate that of Kraft's UK office workers at its base in Cheltenham.

But the 5,700 workers at Cadbury's eight UK factories – part of a 45,000-strong workforce in 60 countries – will fear they may be next.

Mr Carr last night defended his decision to back the Kraft bid, despite his previous highly vocal opposition when he described the US business as a "low growth conglomerate".

He said: "If Cadbury is absorbed within the Kraft business model, that would be the catalyst that changes Kraft to make it a better-performing business.

"We have not made this decision lightly. This is a really first-class business and the case we made all the way through was unless appropriate value was paid, it would not be sold.

"At the end of the day, Kraft have paid a price that the shareholders believe is at the tipping point of recognising tomorrow's price today."

Mr Carr said he did not feel guilty about the sale because they had done nothing wrong, but he was sad.

Speaking after the announcement of the Kraft deal, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the Government was "determined jobs in Cadbury can be secure".

The chairman said the Prime Minister had no power to guarantee jobs at Cadbury's, although he was personally confident that Kraft would invest in the firm.

"Kraft has spent nearly £12 billion to buy this business, it has not done so to run it down, it has done so to build it up . . . we've spoken to the chairman of Kraft last night and I'm confident that its mindset is to invest in the company just as we have," he said.

But, in a desperate rearguard action today, Cadbury shareholders were urged to give the "two fingers" to the revised Kraft bid by a senior West Midlands MP.

Labour's Bruce George said he was outraged by the Kraft takeover and hoped investors – who have until February 2 to either accept or reject Kraft's 840p per share offer – had "the guts to say 'no'".

Mr George said: "I hope they have the bottle to give them the two fingers – to stand up and say, 'this is a British company, it is very successful, it is capable of developing, and should have a future in British hands'. I think we are losing our identity and this has been happening for 20 years."

Business Minister and Wolverhampton MP Pat McFadden added: "If the takeover goes ahead, the critical thing will be Kraft's intentions towards Cadbury's UK operations and UK workforce.

"The Secretary of State Lord Mandelson has said that assuming the takeover proceeds, he will seek an early meeting with Kraft."