Kraft’s controversial takeover of Cadbury has been branded a “dumb deal” by billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who has sold a raft of his shares in the US food company.

Buffett, one of the world’s richest men, has cut his stake in the Dairylea maker from 8.8% to just over 6% over the past few months, according to regulatory filings in the US.

At the AGM of his Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate earlier this month, Buffett blasted both the Cadbury takeover and the sale of Kraft’s frozen pizza business to Nestlé – which helped generate funds for the Cadbury deal.

“The odds are that both deals are dumb,” he said. “The pizza deal was particularly dumb.”

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