Cadbury steps up its defence against Kraft's £10.2bn offer
The chief executive of Cadbury will reinforce the confectionery group's growth strategy as a standalone business to investors this week, in the wake of last week's rejected £10.2bn takeover approach from Kraft.
Todd Stitzer will bolster Cadbury's defences against Kraft tomorrow by reaffirming its strategy – the details of which will be issued in a stock exchange announcement in the morning – at an event hosted by Sanford C Bernstein's analysts, where a number of Cadbury's investors will be present.
The news comes as Cadbury yesterday released a strongly worded letter that lambasted Kraft's offer. Roger Carr, the chairman of Cadbury, said: "Under your proposal, Cadbury would be absorbed into Kraft's low-growth, conglomerate business, an unappealing prospect which contrasts sharply with our strategy to be a pure play confectionery company."
In the letter to Irene Rosenfeld, chairman and chief executive of Kraft, Mr Carr added that its 745p-a-share proposal failed to reflect the potential synergies of a combined entity. Kraft refused to comment yesterday.
However, the City expects Kraft or another party to return with an improved offer for Cadbury. Yesterday, Bank of America Securities-Merrill Lynch analysts said a deal at 860p to 880p for Cadbury "still comfortably meets Kraft's financial criteria".
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies