STUC on Kraft takeover of Cadbury

January 19th 2010

STUC on Kraft takeover of Cadbury

January 19th 2010

Commenting on news that the board of Cadbury has advised shareholders to accept a new offer from Kraft, Stephen Boyd, (Scottish trades Union Congress) STUC Assistant Secretary said:

“On hearing this news workers across the UK will understandably question whether the banking crisis and subsequent recession has changed anything at all.

“Observers are united in the belief that there is little industrial logic behind the bid. Research tells us, emphatically, that only a small minority of hostile takeovers genuinely add value in the longer-term.

“Once again, ownership and control is all too easily relinquished from the UK economy and bitter experience tells us that jobs will surely follow. The argument that UK business and workers will benefit from unreciprocated openness lacks any credibility. Just where are the major acquisitions being made by UK multinationals abroad?

“As the Cadbury’s workforce faces economic insecurity, the investment bankers behind the highly leveraged deal and the executives who stand to benefit will be rubbing their hands. Institutional shareholders, as we have come to expect, have again prioritised quarterly performance figures above the patient value creation which provides long-term security for their members. It is shocking if hardly surprising that the short-termism which helped to provoke the recent crisis is proving so resilient.

“It is essential that the UK Government urgently rethinks its industrial policy in the interests of all economic stakeholders”.

ENDS

For further information contact

Stephen Boyd 0141 337 8100