As noted in the Sunday Mail’s article Be quizzed by MPs? Not the best use of my personal time, says American behind Cadbury’s takeover, the actions of an American CEO are infuriating British members of parliament by refusing to show up in person to answer their questions about a recent takeover. The American company Kraft recently purchased British company Cadbury, despite local attempts to block this takeover. As noted in the Daily Mail piece:
Kraft launched its hostile takeover bid for Cadbury in December 2009. The move provoked a massive public reaction, with a campaign by this newspaper to ‘Keep Cadbury British’ gaining the support of celebrities and 28,000 readers.
But in January last year Cadbury shareholders voted to accept an £11.5 billion offer from Kraft.
Kraft’s CEO, Irene Rosenfeld, who naturally owns a large number of shares of stock in Kraft, has seen the value of her holdings increase by tens of millions of dollars since Kraft shares rose in value since the takeover of Cadbury.
As might be expected, a UK parliamentary committee decided to preen and “investigate” the £11.5 billion deal. So Rosenfeld sent a few executives to answer questions, but did not show up herself, infuriating MPs with her “arrogance.” As she explained:
‘When we were asked to appear before a UK parliamentary committee, I made the decision that only those closest to the business should go.
‘I didn’t feel there was a need for me to attend. We had answered all their questions; there was no new information . . . Appearing before the panel was not the best use of my personal time.’
Good for her! Ignore the state, laugh at the state, whenever you can.
Update: See also MPs given two chocolate fingers by Kraft boss Irene Rosenfeld.
7:59 pm on May 30, 2011
