Cadbury issues stinging rebuke to Kraft Foods bid

Roger Carr, chairman of Cadbury, has this evening delivered a stinging rebuke to the US conglomerate Kraft Foods which has informally offered £7.45 per share for the UK chocolate maker. Cadbury believes that absorbing the company into Kraft Foods "low growth, conglomerate business" is not a sensible move for Cadbury shareholders and dismissed the offer outright.



However, while the gloves are certainly off with regards to Cadbury and Kraft Foods there is speculation in the city that Cadbury has a realistic board who know the value of the company and the fact they should be able to squeeze more money out of Kraft Foods. Interestingly, while criticising the offer from the US giant, Cadbury did highlight the fact there are significant synergies between the two operations and this is something which needs to be taken into account.



Monday morning will see the official delivery of the Cadbury letter to shareholders and while Kraft Foods has refused to comment as yet, many people believe this could be a long drawn-out takeover which could have some way to go. Whether Cadbury's directors will be able to squeeze any more money out of Kraft Foods, or a white knight bidder, remains to be seen.