US GIANT Kraft Foods has vowed to make Cadbury brands "thrive" through increased investment and close involvement with independent retailers following its successful takeover of Cadbury.

Kraft formally sealed the friendly takeover of Cadbury when it revealed that shareholders representing almost three quarters of Cadbury supported the deal. The £11.7bn takeover will create the world's largest confectionery group.

Kraft chief executive, Irene Rosenfeld said: "The combination of Kraft Foods and Cadbury creates a global powerhouse in snacks, confectionery and quick meals. Together we have impressive global reach and an unrivalled portfolio of iconic brands, with tremendous growth potential."

Last month, potential Cadbury bidders like Hershey, Ferrero and Nestle ruled out bids leaving the field clear for Kraft to complete its deal for the British group.

A Kraft-Cadbury combination will bring together Cadbury's Dairy Milk chocolate, Halls cough drops and Trident gum with Kraft's portfolio of Milka and Toblerone chocolates, Oreo biscuits, Maxwell House coffee and Philadelphia cheese.

The new company will be number one in the chocolate and confectionery industry by revenue, overtaking Mars-Wrigley. It will be number two in the chewing gum market behind Mars-Wrigley.

Independent retailers have expressed concerns over the merger. Bal Ghuman, who runs a Premier store in Wolverhampton, said: "I hope they don’t change too much of what made Cadbury’s great, such as the range of products and their advertisements."

Sheffield trader Vrinder Singh said: "I think most retailers now will be thinking about how their margins will be affected. Nuneaton newsagent Nasrin Kaur said: "My one worry would be if they raised the prices retailers had to pay on the best selling brands. "

A Kraft spokesman told Asian Trader: "We will move quickly to develop plans for working together but in the meantime its business as usual. It's too early to speculate on details at this stage.

"We see tremendous growth potential in our combination with Cadbury, so that brands will thrive with increased investment. We want to build on Cadbury's strengths with independent retailers. We won't be changing the quality of Cadbury's beloved brands."