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For the City his arrival signals a multi-million fee bonanza the likes of which has not been seen for several years. Kraft could easily spend £150 million if it has to go hostile with its bid. Cadbury could spend over £100 million defending itself. Last year's spin off of its fizzy drinks business alone cost it £130 million in fees, advise and tax.

Wasserstein, 61, chairman and chief executive of Lazards, could easily have disappeared as one of the dinosaur bankers of the 1980s. He has handled over 1,000 deals worth a total of more than $250 billion (£152.1 billion), first as head of mergers and acquisitions at First Boston then at his own Wasserstein Perella boutique. He sold that at the top of the bull market in the late 1990s to Germany's Dresdner Bank which merged it with London's Kleinwort Benson. He moved on to join Lazards, floating it in 2005.

Wasserstein, who married for the fourth time last January, is estimated to be personally worth more than $2 billion.

Cadbury has reacted to the Wasserstein-led onslaught by beefing up its own advisory team. Long-time financial adviser UBS has been joined by Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. Its lawyers are Slaughter & May.

Kraft is also using Citigroup and Deutsche Bank as joint brokers with US boutique Centerview Partners as another financial adviser. Its lawyers are Clifford Chance.