US food giant Kraft today won its five-month battle for control of Cadbury after shareholders backed its takeover offer.
The vote paves the way for Kraft to acquire Cadbury - ending its 186-year history as an independent company.
Kraft's cash-and-shares deal, recommended by the Cadbury board two weeks ago, values the UK firm at around £11.4 billion.
The result came as hundreds of Cadbury workers staged a noisy protest in Westminster to call for guarantees for their jobs and conditions.
They pressed for a new law to be introduced to prevent any more British "icons" being bought up by a foreign firm.
Kraft has promised $675 million of annual cost savings from the deal, which will mean job cuts among Cadbury's global workforce of over 45,000 in the integration process, analysts said.
During an acrimonious near five-month bid battle, Cadbury chairman Roger Carr has attacked Kraft's business model, financial performance and record of integrating businesses, leaving Kraft's chief executive Irene Rosenfeld to try and soothe worries.
Ms Rosenfeld is expected to outline her strategy to win the hearts and mind of Cadbury's staff, while delivering the cost savings and revenue growth she has promised to keep her largest shareholder Warren Buffett happy. She has promised $675 million of annual cost savings from the deal, which will mean job cuts, analysts said.
Cadbury's annual sales are only one fifth of Kraft but the British group will be a major driver for growth at a combined company with over $50 billion of sales. Kraft will still be the world's second largest food group after Nestle but will leapfrog Mars-Wrigley to be the world's biggest confectionery group.
Kraft agreed its friendly deal to buy Cadbury on January 19th in an offer that valued Cadbury shares at 840 pence, with 60 per cent of the price coming as cash and the rest in new Kraft shares. With the fall in Kraft shares, the current value of the bid is around 830p a Cadbury share.
Last month, potential Cadbury bidders like Hershey, Italy's Ferrero and Nestle ruled out bids leaving the field clear for Kraft to complete its deal for the British group. Hershey reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit today but made no mention of Cadbury.
A Kraft-Cadbury combination will bring together Cadbury's Dairy Milk chocolate, Halls cough drops and Trident gum with Kraft's portfolio of Milka and Toblerone chocolates, Oreo biscuits, Maxwell House coffee and Philadelphia cheese.
Reuters