Kraft and Cadbury

In 2010, Kraft Foods won a hostile, deeply unpopular $19 billion takeover of Cadbury, the beloved British confectioner founded by a Quaker family in Birmingham in 1824. To soften fierce opposition during the final days of the bid, CEO Irene Rosenfeld signaled Kraft would keep open a Cadbury factory in Keynsham that was slated to close. That assurance became central to the case that the deal was safe for British workers. Within weeks of closing, the factory closed anyway, costing about 400 jobs.

This case is about the difference between a promise that wins the moment and a promise you can actually keep. For founders and operators, it sharpens how commitments made under deal pressure create obligations that don't expire when the ink dries, and what happens to your reputation and your regulatory environment when the spirit of those words goes unhonored.