Has Cadbury found a white knight?
The situation with Cadbury is shrouded in even more mystery this evening with a suggestion that any bid from Ferrero would need to be a friendly offer backed by the Cadbury board. In simple terms, if Ferrero and Cadbury can agree a price then Cadbury may well have found a white knight to fight the oncoming giant which is Kraft foods. But is it really that easy?
Before Cadbury shareholders start to count their chickens (before they hatch), there are many hurdles to overcome before any white knight can come to the rescue of Cadbury. Speculation in the market would suggest that Ferrero would need the assistance of US-based partner Hershey to fund any offer and there is no certainty this will be forthcoming. A number of market observers are not ruling out a further third party entering the fray because to all intents and purposes Cadbury is now up for sale and will do well to fight off the forthcoming challenges.
Even if a friendly offer was agreed with Hershey and Ferrero there is no stopping Kraft Foods coming back with a higher hostile offer which shareholders in Cadbury would be hard pressed to ignore. The walls are now starting to close in on the Cadbury directors and by hook or by crook it seems that the company is on the shopping list of a number of prominent players in the marketplace.
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