Kraft poised to go hostile in its bid for Cadbury

Kraft is tipped to make a hostile bid for Cadbury today, to which the UK confectioner is expected to issue another brusque rebuff.

The US food giant first approached Cadbury in September with a cash and share offer worth £10.2bn. But the UK's best-known sweet company responded with an unequivocal "No".

In the run-up to this afternoon's 5pm put up or shut up deadline from the Takeover Panel, Kraft has been weighing up whether to go hostile and how much to put on the table.

One option is to re-state the original 720p offer, but Kraft's sliding share price has dragged down the value, and City analysts estimate that anything less than 850p will receive short shrift.

Cadbury came out fighting again last week in the wake of Kraft's disappointing third-quarter results, claiming that the US company has gone from being a "low-growth conglomerate" to a "no-growth conglomerate".