Cadbury demands Kraft “put up or shut up”
Cadbury has asked the Takeover Panel to present Kraft with a “put up or shut up” ultimatum following the latter’s attempted £10.2bn takeover offer for its rival.
The owner of brands including Dairy Milk, Wispa and Trident reportedly approached the panel yesterday (September 21) to ask the US food company Kraft to impose a deadline to make a formal bid or walk away for at least six months.
Kraft, which made an initial £10.2bn offer earlier this month, was swiftly rejected by Cadbury.
Cadbury chairman Roger Carr last week wrote an open letter criticising Kraft for being “a company with a considerably less focused business mix and historically lower growth”.
Cadbury’s largest shareholder, Legal & General, has also said that Kraft’s proposal “materially undervalued” the group.
The move by Kraft is now speculated to trigger other multinationals, such as Nestlé, Mars and Hershey’s, to launch their own bids for Cadbury.
Kraft owns brands including Toblerone, Philadelphia, Kenco, and Terry’s Confectionary range.
