{"id":143621,"date":"2010-01-05T23:28:00","date_gmt":"2010-01-06T04:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087194156628161158.post-692618814040504877"},"modified":"2010-01-05T23:32:01","modified_gmt":"2010-01-06T04:32:01","slug":"financial-times-buffett-looks-to-stop-kraft-getting-carried-away-with-takeover-bid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/143621","title":{"rendered":"FINANCIAL TIMES: Buffett looks to stop Kraft getting carried away with takeover bid"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><!-- AddThis Button BEGIN -->By Justin Baer in New York <\/p>\n<p>Published: January 6 2010 02:00 | Last updated: January 6 2010 02:00<\/p>\n<div class=\"ft-story-body\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\" language=\"javascript\"> function floatContent(){var paraNum = \"3\" paraNum = paraNum - 1;var tb = document.getElementById('floating-con');var nl = document.getElementById('floating-target');if(tb.getElementsByTagName(\"div\").length> 0){if (nl.getElementsByTagName(\"p\").length>= paraNum){nl.insertBefore(tb,nl.getElementsByTagName(\"p\")[paraNum]);}else {if (nl.getElementsByTagName(\"p\").length == 3){nl.insertBefore(tb,nl.getElementsByTagName(\"p\")[2]);}else {nl.insertBefore(tb,nl.getElementsByTagName(\"p\")[0]);}}}}<\/script><\/p>\n<div class=\"clearfix\" id=\"floating-target\">\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/everythingwarrenbuffett.blogspot.com\/2010\/01\/berkshire-hathaway-news-release-from.html\">Warren Buffett yesterday said<\/a> he would oppose Kraft&#8217;s plan to issue as many as 370m shares to fund its hostile takeover of Cadbury, a stern message from the US food company&#8217;s largest investor just as it readies its final assault on the UK chocolatier.<\/p>\n<p>Berkshire Hathaway, the holding company that controls Mr Buffett&#8217;s investments, owns about 9.4 per cent of Kraft. Mr Buffett declined to comment.<\/p>\n<p>Alice Schroeder, a former stock analyst and author of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/0553384619?tag=sharinve-20&amp;camp=14573&amp;creative=327641&amp;linkCode=as1&amp;creativeASIN=0553384619&amp;adid=0K0WG87279W4SZSW1TNT&amp;\"><i>The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life<\/i><\/a> , said the billionaire investor&#8217;s statement may have been an effort to remind Kraft to take a disciplined approach to its final bid before the transaction&#8217;s costs overrun its benefits.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s using his position here to send a message to everyone,&#8221; Ms Schroeder said. &#8220;He&#8217;s obviously frustrated that Kraft hasn&#8217;t listened to his private suggestions. And it&#8217;s a message partly to Cadbury. For them to call Kraft&#8217;s bid derisory, when there are no other offers, is incredible.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In a statement, Berkshire said it voted against the share proposal, calling the plan a &#8220;blank cheque&#8221; that gives Kraft the right to revise the terms of its bid again before the final offer is due on January 19.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We worry very much that &#8230; there will be an additional change from the revision announced this morning,&#8221; Berkshire said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;To state the matter simply, a shareholder voting &#8216;yes&#8217; today is authorising a huge transaction without knowing its cost or the means of payment.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Two other rivals, Hershey and Italy&#8217;s Ferrero, have said they are weighing making a bid for Cadbury.<\/p>\n<p>Berkshire said it would consider changing its vote to &#8220;yes&#8221; once Kraft announces the terms of its final offer.<\/p>\n<p>But the investment company noted that Kraft spent $3.6bn in 2007 to buy back stock at $33 each, &#8220;presumably because the directors and management thought the shares would be worth more. Does the board now believe those purchases were a mistake and that Kraft&#8217;s true value is only the current price of $27?&#8221; Berkshire said.<\/p>\n<p>Kraft shares rose about 3.1 per cent to $28.29 in late morning trading in New York. Cadbury&#8217;s American depositary receipts slumped 3.5 per cent to $49.86.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We agree that Kraft Foods shares are deeply undervalued and we would certainly not do anything that hurts shareholder value,&#8221; Kraft said. &#8220;As we have stated before, we intend to remain disciplined in this process.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"comments\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Share Investor Links<\/span><\/a><a name=\"comments\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.shareinvestorblog.com\/\">Share Investor Blog<\/a> &#8211; Stockmarket &amp; Business commentary<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/shareinvestornz.blogspot.com\/2007\/02\/new-zealand-business-news.html\">Share Investor New Zealand Business News<\/a>&#8211; Get more business news<br \/>Discuss this topic @<a href=\"http:\/\/www.shareinvestorforum.com\/\"> Share Investor Forum<\/a> &#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/shareinvestorforum.com\/ucp.php?mode=register&amp;sid=450a61250472e03fa25c205c9c1723f1\"><strong>Register<strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/a> free<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/www.currency-market.blogspot.com\/\">Share Investor&#8217;s Daily Forex Updates<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Recommended Amazon Reading<\/span><\/p>\n<table id=\"searchResults\" cellspacing=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr class=\"clsOdd\">\n<td class=\"tdimage\"><a href=\"http:\/\/astore.amazon.com\/shareinvestorbookstore-20\/detail\/0470502304\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/ecx.images-amazon.com\/images\/I\/51K6tceaWpL._SL75_.jpg\" alt=\"Warren Buffett on Business: Principles from the Sage of Omaha\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td class=\"tddescription\"><a href=\"http:\/\/astore.amazon.com\/shareinvestorbookstore-20\/detail\/0470502304\">Warren Buffett on Business: Principles from the Sage of Omaha<\/a> by <span class=\"by\">Richard J. 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