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Source: Reuters -
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Workers at Cadbury's factory in Dunedin face an anxious wait after the confectionery company agreed to a takeover by American food giant Kraft.
Kraft overnight agreed to buy Cadbury for around 11.9 billion pounds ($NZ26.3 billion), ending a mostly hostile takeover process that has been on the boil since August last year.
The deal will create the world's largest confectionery group.
Cadbury's chief executive in the United Kingdom has already warned jobs will be lost there, and the Service and Food Workers Union in New Zealand is worried about the impact it will have on Cadbury workers in Dunedin.
"Worst case scenario is there may no longer be a factory in Dunedin. Best case scenario is that for varying business reasons it may well see an increase in volume and employment," says union spokesman Neville Donaldson.
Donaldson says Kraft has a history of making significant changes.
"Closing down sites, reducing employment, so the acquisition of Cadbury isn't going to be an activity that just of just sees things carry on as they have been. There will be change. The only thing we're unsure about is what that change will be," he says.
Craigs Investment Partners analyst Anne Hare says the deal could be a "global employment situation for those people working for Cadbury".
"One of the reasons Kraft wanted this asset was to get access to developing markets, particularly India and Brazil which they didn't already have and Cadbury has that," she says.
Hare believes Kraft's offer will go through now that the Cadbury board have approved the deal.
Cadbury corporate communications manager Daniel Ellis says the company will not comment until the takeover is signed off next month.
Any reduction in labour force would follow 80 redundancies made at Cadbury in New Zealand late last year.
