Cadbury India Ceos Term Extended

Cadbury India CEO, J M Robertsons term has been extended by two years till January 2, 1999 and two new overseas directors from the parent company are formally joining the Cadbury board.

The new entrants will fill the vacancies caused by two resignations and hence will not increase the board strength from 14 members. Cadbury shareholders will vote on the two appointments and the extension to Robertson at the annual general meeting on June 2 in Mumbai. Robertsons term expired on January 2 this year and the board has already approved the extension last year.

The new directors are, I D Johnston, currently managing director of Cadbury Schweppes, confectionary stream and Brian Rodgers, now director, commercial and logistics of Cadbury India. They were appointed earlier as additional directors but need shareholders approval to become full time directors.

 

While Johnston was appointed to the Cadbury board in November last year to replace the outgoing director, J M Sunderland, Rodgers joined in March 1997 to look after commercial and logistics. Both appointments were valid till the date of the June 2 AGM and hence have come up for ratification.

Deepak Sethi, who was heading commercial and logistics before Rodgers took over as marketing director from Rajeev Bakshi after Bakshi departed to the parent company in London to become regional marketing director, Africa, Asia, and Middle East.

The shareholders meeting will formally ratify the move as required under the Companies Act. Cadbury is the 52.02 per cent subsidiary of British confectionary and beverages giant, Cadbury Schweppes Plc. In India, it has a 70 per cent share of the chocolate market and is planning further investments of Rs 80 crore to expand capacities. It is doubling capacities at Malanpur from 12,000 tonnes to 24,000 tonnes at a cost of Rs 40 crore and investing Rs 40 crore in increasing the liquid milk processing capacity and building a new crumb and moulding plant.