Document:

<PAGE>   1
                                                                EXHIBIT 10(viii)

[RALSTON PURINA COMPANY LOGO]

                                  April 6, 2001

HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL

       DEFERRAL OF POTENTIAL 2001 MANAGEMENT CONTINUITY SEVERANCE BENEFITS

You have been selected to be offered a Management Continuity Agreement with the
Company dated as of April 6, 2001 (the "2001 MCA"). In connection with this 2001
MCA, you may elect, under the Deferred Compensation Plan for Key Employees (the
"Plan"), to defer, subject to the approval of the Human Resources Committee of
the Board, any lump sum Severance Benefits payable under Article 4, paragraphs a
and c of the 2001 MCA. Because you are entitled to Severance Benefits only upon
a Qualifying Termination of your employment within two years of a Change in
Control in accordance with the terms of the 2001 MCA, a deferral of such
Severance Benefits can only be given effect if a valid aged deferral election
AND a valid aged installment payment election are in place at the time Severance
Benefits become payable.

Elections to defer and receive installment payments must be made sufficiently in
advance of a Change in Control and a Qualifying Termination, as defined under
the 2001 MCA, in order to effect the deferral for Federal and State income tax
purposes.

Deferrals of 2001 MCA Severance Benefits can be made into such Deferral Options
(as defined in the Plan) as are available under the Plan at the time of your
Qualifying Termination after a Change in Control. Please see the enclosed
Factors to Consider (Attachment 1) for further information regarding the Plan
and your deferral opportunity. The Deferred Compensation Plan Prospectus and
Prospectus Supplements (Attachment 2) summarize the provisions of the Plan and
the Deferral Options.

PLEASE NOTE THAT NO COMPANY MATCH WILL BE PROVIDED TO ANY SEVERANCE BENEFITS
DEFERRALS.

You currently ____________ installment election on file with respect to payments
from the Deferred Compensation Plan. If you choose to defer your 2001 MCA
Severance Benefits, you must make an installment election in the Payment
Election section of the enclosed Deferral Election Form by April 20, 2001.

Checkerboard Square
St. Louis, Missouri 63164-0001
<PAGE>   2
April 6, 2001
Page 2

REQUEST FOR DEFERRAL

PLEASE RETURN ONE COPY OF THE DEFERRAL ELECTION FORM (ATTACHMENT 3) AS SOON AS
POSSIBLE, BUT IN ANY EVENT NO LATER THAN APRIL 20, 2001 WHETHER OR NOT YOU WISH
TO REQUEST A DEFERRAL. A duplicate form is attached for your records.

The deferral of 2001 MCA Severance Benefits is at the discretion of Human
Resources Committee of the Board of Directors and is subject to the Committee's
approval.

If you have any questions, please call me at extension 2325 or Pat Robbins at
extension 5889.

                                   Ron Sheban

Attachments
<PAGE>   3
                                                                    Attachment 1
                               FACTORS TO CONSIDER

Under current Federal and state income tax laws, you will not be taxed on any
deferral amounts or any earnings on those deferral amounts until you actually
receive payments of such amounts, as long as elections to defer are made in a
timely fashion. Deferred amounts are taxed as ordinary income in the year
received.

The IRS may challenge a deferral of income if the timing of the deferral and
payment form elections does not satisfy certain IRS criteria. In such event, the
IRS may deem the entire 2001 MCA Severance Benefit to have been constructively
received and subject to income taxes at the time the Benefits became payable
under the 2001 MCA Agreement upon a Change in Control and Qualifying Termination
of Employment.

All wages, without limit, and whether or not deferred, are subject when earned
to Social Security (to the extent the taxable wage base has not been attained),
and to the Medicare Hospital Insurance (HI) Tax of 1.45%. To the extent
necessary to satisfy these FICA withholding requirements, a portion of the
deferred 2001 MCA Severance Benefits may, instead, be paid to you and subject to
Federal, state, and local taxes, as applicable. All required withholding would
first be taken out of any nondeferred 2001 MCA Severance Benefits, or your first
installment payment of 2001 MCA Severance Benefits from the Deferred
Compensation Plan.

2001 MCA Severance Benefits, whether paid or deferred, are not Benefit Earnings
for purposes of Ralston Purina Company benefit plans.

Note that upon the occurrence of a change in control of the Company, as defined
in the Deferred Compensation Plan for Key Employees, the Ralston Purina Equity
Option will cease, no new deferrals into this Option (including the 2001 MCA
deferrals governed by this election) will be accepted, and all existing
deferrals in the Ralston Purina Equity Option will be transferred to the Prime
Rate Option. In evaluating the Ralston Purina Equity Option, consider the length
of time your investment in stock equivalents subjects your deferral to market
risks. Also consider, in the event the merger with Nestle does not occur,
long-range economic and political conditions, the prospects of the business
underlying the stock, and whether the Company will be willing and able to
declare and pay dividends to create dividend equivalents.

The Prime Rate Option will credit interest equivalents on your deferred amounts
annually based on the average of the daily close of business prime rates. These
equivalents may vary substantially from year to year depending on changes in
interest rates.

For the Measurement Fund Options, deferred amounts will earn returns (which may
be positive or negative) as if they had been invested at the net asset value
(net of investment advisory fees) of the investment funds on which the
measurement is based. Note that these funds are used for measurement purposes
only. Your account will be credited with investment returns based on these funds
but will be reflected as a bookkeeping entry only and will not represent an
actual investment made on your behalf.

The Deferral Options offered under the Deferred Compensation Plan for Key
Employees may be added or deleted as the Human Resources Committee of the Board
of Directors, or its delegee, may from time to time determine. After a change in
control of the Company, changes in Deferral Options must conform to certain
investment guidelines set forth in the Prospectus Supplement dated January 30,
2001.

Participants in the Plan are permitted to transfer any amounts credited to an
account under the Prime Rate Option or any Measurement Fund Option on a daily
basis to any other deferral options offered under the Plan. Participants may
also transfer, on a daily basis, any amounts which have been deferred under
<PAGE>   4
the Ralston Purina Equity Option for at least one year; subject to the
elimination of the Equity Option as described above. In such event, any existing
Equity Option deferrals transferred to the Prime Rate Option shall become
immediately transferable to any other deferral options then existing under the
Plan.

Benefits under the Deferred Compensation Plan for Key Employees are unfunded. In
considering the options, you should note that your right to receive
distributions from the Plan is that of a general creditor of Ralston Purina
Company.

The Pension Source Act prohibits a state from taxing installment payments made
over a period of at least ten years to a former resident who is residing in a
non income tax bearing state at the time the installment payments are made.

Consider your deferral participation carefully and consult your personal advisor
if you have any questions. Please refer to the enclosed Deferred Compensation
Plan Prospectus and Prospectus Supplements dated December 1, 2000, January 30,
2001 and March 30, 2001 for more details. Your election to defer may not be
changed for any reason.
<PAGE>   5
APRIL 6, 2001              DEFERRAL ELECTION
                              ATTACHMENT 3
                2001 MANAGEMENT CONTINUITY SEVERANCE BENEFITS

I.  DEFERRAL ELECTION. Please submit my request as follows with respect to
    Severance Benefits under Article 4a & c of the 2001 Management Continuity
    Agreement dated April 6, 2001 (the "2001 MCA") that may be paid to me upon a
    Qualifying Termination following a Change in Control. I understand that an
    election to defer, once made, is IRREVOCABLE, and is subject to Human
    Resources Committee approval.

CHECK ONE BOX BELOW:

/ /   NO DEFERRAL Check here if you do not wish to defer any portion
                  of your 2001 MCA Severance Benefits. Ignore items 1) and 2)
                  and proceed to Part III below.

/ /   DEFERRAL    Check here if you wish to defer any portion of your
                  2001 MCA Severance Benefits. Complete items 1) and 2) and the
                  bottom section. NOTE: THIS DEFERRAL ELECTION WILL BE GIVEN
                  EFFECT ONLY IF A VALID INSTALLMENT PAYMENT OPTION ELECTION IS
                  ALSO IN PLACE. (SEE PART II, PAYMENT ELECTION, BELOW.)

                  1)  FILL IN ONE BLANK ONLY:

                     Defer_____% OR Defer all up to $________________
                     OR Defer all in excess of $___________________

                  2) PLEASE ALLOCATE THE AMOUNT INDICATED IN ITEM 1) ABOVE IN
                     WHOLE PERCENTAGE INCREMENTS TO THE FOLLOWING ACCOUNT(S):

<TABLE>
<S>                                   <C>          <C>                                                  <C>
/ /   Ralston Purina Equity Option*   _______%     / /  Vanguard International Growth Fund              _______%
/ /   Prime Rate Option               _______%     / /  Vanguard LifeStrategy Income Fund               _______%
/ /   Vanguard Wellington Fund        _______%     / /  Vanguard LifeStrategy Conservative Growth Fund  _______%
/ /   Vanguard 500 Index Fund         _______%     / /  Vanguard LifeStrategy Moderate Growth Fund      _______%
/ /   Vanguard Windsor II Fund        _______%     / /  Vanguard LifeStrategy Growth Fund               _______%
/ /   Vanguard Small-Cap Index Fund   _______%     / /                                                  _______%

                                                                                                 TOTAL    100%
                                                                                                        _______
</TABLE>

* Will convert to Prime Rate Option upon the occurrence of a change in control
of the Company, as defined in the Deferred Compensation Plan for Key Employees.

        - THERE IS NO COMPANY MATCH ON ANY SEVERANCE BENEFITS DEFERRAL -
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

II. PAYMENT ELECTION.

CHECK ONE BOX BELOW TO SELECT A PAYMENT OPTION. The election made below will
apply only to distributions from the Deferred Compensation Plan attributable to
2001 MCA Severance Benefits deferrals. AN INSTALLMENT FORM ELECTION WILL APPLY
ONLY TO DISTRIBUTIONS OF 2001 MCA SEVERANCE BENEFITS RESULTING FROM A QUALIFYING
TERMINATION AS DEFINED UNDER THE 2001 MCA, THAT IS TIMELY MADE BY APRIL 20,
2001.

CHECK ONE:   / /  5 ANNUAL INSTALLMENTS             / /  10 ANNUAL INSTALLMENTS

III.

-----------------------------               ------------------------------------
Social Security Number                      Signature

-----------------------------               ------------------------------------
Today's Date                                Name (Type or Print)

-----------------------------               ------------------------------------
Division                                    Department                  Location

-----------------------------               ------------------------------------
Home Street Address                         City            State            Zip

THIS FORM MUST BE RETURNED TO COMPENSATION DEPARTMENT - 1A NO LATER THAN APRIL
20, 2001.<PAGE>   1
                                                                  EXHIBIT 10(ix)

                LEVERAGED INCENTIVE PLAN (LIP) SPECIFICATIONS

PLAN CONCEPT

The Leveraged Incentive Plan (LIP) provides a three-year intermediate-term cash
incentive award for a select group of executives whose actions can positively
impact shareholder value. The amount of the Base Award will be based on the
greater of Ralston Purina Company Total Shareholder Return or Controllable
Earnings; the Peer Group Award will be based on Total Shareholder Return
compared to a group of peer companies.

ELIGIBILITY; PERFORMANCE PERIOD

Eligibility for this plan has been limited to certain key executives.
Participants must remain employed by the Company throughout a three-year
performance period commencing on the date set forth in Attachment #1 to be
eligible to receive payment under the Plan. However, pro-rata payments will be
made, depending upon Company performance, upon the following events if they
occur prior to the end of the full three-year term of the LIP: voluntary
termination at age 50 or older, long-term disability, death, discharge
determined by the Human Resources Committee of the Board of Directors or its
delegee to be related to the sale of a business or business unit, other
involuntary termination at any age, or the Company's ceasing to be publicly
traded at which time the Plan automatically terminates. No payments would be
made, however, in the case of a termination for cause as determined by the
Committee.

Pro-rata payments will be based on performance of the Company during the period
ending with the event of termination, death or disability of the participant, or
termination of the Plan. In the event of a termination of the Plan due to a
change in control such as the Nestle merger, pro-rata awards will be made
immediately prior to the effective date of the change in control. Pro-rata
awards payable upon the occurrence of other events shall be made as soon as
practicable after such events.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

The Plan provides that, in the event the Company enters into an agreement with
an independent party to effect a change in control of the Company, the Base
Award will be determined by the greater of the Company's Total Shareholder
Return (T.S.R.) or estimated Controllable Earnings (C.E.). The Agreement and
Plan of Merger entered into by and between the Company, Nestle Holdings and a
subsidiary of Nestle Holdings constitutes an agreement to effect a change in
control of the Company. While such an agreement is in effect, T.S.R. will be
measured by the contract price agreed upon by the Company and the potential
acquirer. (In the case of the proposed merger with Nestle, the contract price is
$33.50.) However, if the agreement to effect the change in control is terminated
and the change in control is not ultimately consummated during the term of the
award, in determining whether the Company's Controllable Earnings or T.S.R. is
greater, the Company's T.S.R. with respect to awards outstanding on the date the
agreement is terminated would revert to a ten-day stock price average
measurement methodology described as follows:

      In calculating the beginning and ending stock price under the Plan, the
      average of the closing price for the ten trading days prior to and
      including (a) October 1 of the first year of the three-year Plan term and
      (b) September 30 of the last year of the three-year Plan term or, if
      applicable, the last day of your measurement period, if shorter, will be
      used.
<PAGE>   2
LIP Specifications
Page 2

Controllable Earnings is defined as total operating profit, excluding the
amortization of goodwill and intangible assets, less a charge for the interest
cost for the average working capital investment by the operating units. The
interest cost is calculated on a country-by-country basis using the local
country short-term interest rate for the period times the average working
capital invested in the particular country. The total interest charge is the sum
of individual countries. Average working capital is based on the beginning and
ending working capital for the period. Working Capital equals current assets
less current liabilities, excluding outside notes payable, current maturities of
long-term debt, reserve for contingencies, and inter-company accounts payable.

AWARD OPPORTUNITY - BASE AWARD

A cash award will be made at the end of the three-year (or, in the case of a
pro-rata payment, other applicable) period based on the performance measures
described above and your specific participation level in the Plan as outlined in
Attachment #1. The following methodology will be used in calculating the Base
Award:

      Base Award = (a) x (b), where:

            (a) is the participant's aggregate salary during his or her
            period of participation in the Plan; and

            (b) is the percent payable under the Plan's Base Award schedule
            (as set forth on Attachment #1) as a result of T.S.R. or C.E.,
            calculated pursuant to the terms of the Plan and as set forth in
            these specifications.

ADDITIONAL AWARD OPPORTUNITY - PEER GROUP AWARD

If Ralston Purina Company's Total Shareholder Return performance meets or
exceeds the 75th percentile of its performance peer group (the Standard & Poor
(S&P) Food Index, as described below) for the three-year term of the Plan or
other applicable performance period, an amount equal to the Peer Group Award
percentage of your aggregate salary (as set forth on Attachment #1) for the
relevant performance period will be deferred for you in Ralston Purina stock
equivalents in an account established in your name in the Ralston Purina Equity
Option of the Deferred Compensation Plan for Key Employees. Deferrals into the
Equity Option will convert to the Prime Rate Option upon the occurrence of
certain types of change in control of the Company, including the proposed merger
with Nestle. This Peer Group Award, if earned, will be made even if no Base
Award is paid because performance measures for the Base Award were not attained.

S&P FOOD INDEX - PEER GROUP

<TABLE>
<S>                                 <C>
Campbell Soup Company               The Quaker Oats Company
ConAgra Inc.                        Ralston Purina Company
General Mills                       Sara Lee Company
H. J. Heinz                         Unilever
Hershey Foods Corporation           Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company
Kellogg Company
</TABLE>

Companies must be in the sample for the entire performance period to be counted.
Dividend reinvestment is assumed.
<PAGE>   3
LIP Specifications
Page 3

FORM AND TIMING OF PAYMENT

Any Base Award and Peer Group Award earned will be made on a pro-rata basis
immediately prior to the closing of the proposed merger with Nestle. However, in
the event the merger fails to occur, or payment is due because of the
termination, death, or disability of a participant, Base and Peer Group Awards
will be made in accordance with Plan provisions after the close of the
three-year performance period or, if applicable, the last day of the applicable
measurement period. Base Award payments will be made in cash prior to the
closing or can be deferred into any of the options available in the Deferred
Compensation Plan for Key Employees, if so elected by Plan participants
substantially in advance of the date the amount of the award would be
determinable. Deferral into the Plan may also be mandated by the Human Resources
Committee to assure compliance with the deductibility provisions of Section
162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. There will be no
Company match on any deferrals of LIP payments in the Deferred Compensation
Plan, including deferrals into the Equity Option.

The Peer Group Award, if any, will be deferred into the Equity Option with no
transfer permitted to another fund. However, upon a change in control such as
the proposed merger with Nestle, any deferred Ralston Purina stock equivalent
accounts would be converted to the Prime Rate Option in the Deferred
Compensation Plan for Key Employees. Such converted accounts would then become
eligible for transfer to other options within the Deferred Compensation Plan.

OTHER PROVISIONS

The Company reserves the right to terminate the Plan at any time.

The value of awards, to the extent permitted by applicable benefit plans, will
be included in annual benefit earnings. If an executive receives an award during
the course of a calendar year and terminates employment prior to the end of such
calendar year, then for purposes of determining the retirement benefit payable
from the Supplemental Retirement Plan (if the executive is an eligible
participant), the amount of the full or pro-rated LIP benefit (both Base and
Peer Group Awards, if awarded) would be considered to have been received by the
individual during the prior full calendar year worked by that individual and
included in benefit earnings for such Supplemental Retirement Plan for that
year.
<PAGE>   4
                                                                    Attachment 1

                    T. E. BLOCK, W. H. SACKETT, F. W. KRUM

                    1998 BASE OPPORTUNITY PAYOUT SCHEDULE

                   1998 BASE AWARD: 50% PARTICIPATION LEVEL

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
          HIGHER OF EITHER                   FOR PLAN YEAR
                                               10/1/1998
--------------------------------        -----------------------
    T.S.R.         CONTROLLABLE         Plan will pay this % of
                     EARNINGS*                  Salary**
-------------      -------------        -----------------------
<S>                <C>                  <C>
17% or Higher      16% or Higher                 50.0%
     16%                15%                      45.0%
     15%                14%                      40.0%
     14%                13%                      35.0%
     13%                12%                      30.0%
     12%                11%                      25.0%
     11%                10%                      22.5%
     10%                 9%                      20.0%
      9%                 8%                      17.5%
      8%                 7%                      15.0%
      7%                 6%                      12.5%
 Less than 7%      Less than 6%                     0%
</TABLE>

                     1998 PEER GROUP AWARD: 25% OF SALARY**

*    Controllable earnings before special items such as acquisitions or
     divestitures

**   Defined as aggregate salary over the three-year period. Amounts in between
     those shown above will be calculated using straight-line interpolation.

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