Kraft given deadline

Cadbury's takover due?

Kraft Foods have been given a deadline if they wish to make another bid for Cadbury, and if they don't make an approach before the deadline hits, they will be blocked for making a further approach for six months.

In a statement released yesterday, the UK's Takeover Panel, have said that Kraft must either announce a firm offer for Cadbury by 5pm on 9 November, or "announce that it does not intend to make an offer."

It was three weeks ago that Cadbury first rejected Kraft's bid of GBP£10.2 billion, claiming that it "materially undervalued" the company and its prospects for growth.

In response to the Takeover Panel announcement, Cadbury insisted that its view of Kraft's proposal remained unchanged.

"Cadbury has a strong position in the global confectionery market and the board is confident in Cadbury's standalone pure play strategy and growth prospects," Cadbury's chairman Roger Carr said.

"We have made our position on Kraft's proposal very clear and we welcome the panel's decision in the interests of obtaining clarity and certainty for our shareholders and employees at the earliest opportunity."

Cadbury investors have supported the board’s decisions to reject Kraft’s indicative offer, and want the US food group to return with an offer that values Cadbury at about 850p per share. Kraft's original approach was worth 745p per Cadbury share. They also want Kraft to increase the cash portion of its offer to about 50 percent. Only 40 percent of Kraft’s initial offer was in cash.

Kraft, which is the world's second-largest food maker by sales after Nestlé SA, said "We've noted the decision and understand its implications."

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