Heinz takes care of day-to-day business
Current Heinz CEO Bernardo Hees retains his function in the merger company, while the new CFO, Paulo Basilio, also stems from Heinz. The board of directors will also have slightly more Heinz representation, with six members for the ketchup company and five for Kraft Foods. Almost he complete Kraft management, including CFO James Kehoe, will leave the company before the end of the year: only Jim Savina and George Zoghbi will survive the merger.
On 1 July, shareholders will have to approve the merger that will see Berkshire and 3G Capital (Heinz’ owners since 2013) obtain 51 % of shares and day-to-day control, while remaining shares will go to Kraft Foods. Most likely, a round of cost-cutting measures will follow, similarly to what happened at Heinz – which improved its first quarter profits 41 % despite lower turnover.
