Takeover Panel poised to step into the bid battle between Kraft and Cadbury
KRAFT is this week expected to be given its “put up or shut up” deadline by the Takeover Panel, which will force the US giant to either make a formal offer for Cadbury or walk away for six months.
Due to the speed of the appeal by Cadbury, the panel is expected to give Kraft several more weeks to work on its financing and bid. Analysts expect Kraft to be given between six to eight weeks to make its decision on whether to bid.
Kraft has so far intimated that it would be prepared to offer around 745p a share for Cadbury but the chocolate maker’s chairman Roger Carr has said that figure “fundamentally” undervalues the business.
Yesterday there were unconfirmed reports that Kraft might be planning a hostile offer for Cadbury at around £11 a share but some analysts think it unlikely that the US firm will go that high.
A deal between Kraft and Cadbury, the world’s second biggest confectionery firm behind Mars, would create a group with annual sales of around £30.5 billion.