London: The strategy director of US giant Kraft Foods vowed on Sunday to invest in British chocolate maker Cadbury and create more jobs in the business.
Michael Osanloo told The Sunday Telegraph newspaper that Kraft would respect the "history of Cadbury and the integrity of the brands" after it agreed to buy the British firm in a deal worth $18.9 billion (Dh69.5 billion).
"As far as Cadbury in the UK goes it is our hope, desire and our plan to invest in Cadbury," he said.
"I would fully expect that once we can actually look at what is going on and have a more informed perspective that this should, down the road, increase manufacturing jobs in the UK," he said. "I am very optimistic that the vast majority of our synergy savings will come from things that do not affect jobs."
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said this week his government had sought assurances from Kraft about the future of the more than 5,000 workers at Cadbury amid public dismay at the sell-off of such an iconic British brand.
Osanloo said it was "unfortunate" that Cadbury had previously been cutting jobs at its two major plants in Britain, adding: "I would love to be able to figure out a way to do something other than what the current plan is."
