LONDON, Jan 11, 2010 U.K. confectioner Cadbury PLC (CBY) Jan. 5 dismissed an altered offer from Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT), after the U.S. food giant offered a greater percentage of cash as part of the GBP10 billion bid.<\/p>\n “Kraft has once again missed the point,” a Cadbury spokesman said. “Despite this tinkering, the Kraft offer remains unchanged and derisory with less than half the consideration in cash.” <\/p>\n Following an agreement Kraft reached to sell its U.S. and Canadian frozen pizza business to Nestle S.A. (NESN.VX), the Swiss consumer giant, for $3.7 billion, Kraft said it is going to give Cadbury shareholders a “partial cash<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span> alternative” to its existing offer. <\/p>\n The new bid offers 60 pence per Cadbury share, bringing the cash part of the deal to 360 a share. Kraft did not say how much the stock<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span> element of the cash-and-shares bid would reduce by, but insisted that the increased cash element did not represent a “raised offer.” This suggests the stock element of the deal will be cut. <\/p>\n The previous bid is still the only formal one on the table, offering Cadbury shareholders 300 pence in cash and 0.2589 new Kraft shares<\/span><\/span><\/a> for each Cadbury share. It is made up of 60% stock and 40% cash. <\/span><\/p>\n Since the alternative cash-share mix was offered, the E.U. has cleared Kraft to make a bid, Nestle has dropped out of the running for Cadbury, and Warren <\/span>Buffett<\/span><\/span><\/a> said Berkshir<\/span>e Hathaway Inc. (BRKA, BRKB), his holding company, wouldn’t support the issuance of new Kraft shares to pay for a Cadbury deal. <\/p>\n These developments sent Kraft shares almost 5% higher and Cadbury’s 4% lower, meaning that Cadbury shares slipped to within pennies of Kraft’s offer price. <\/p>\n Kraft’s stock closed up 0.6% at $28.93 Friday, which means its bid for Cadbury is now worth 764 pence a share and values the U.K. company at GBP10.5 billion, or $16.9 billion. Cadbury shares closed up 0.19% at 778 pence. <\/p>\n Hershey Co (HSY) and Italy’s Ferrero SpA are now in talks over a possible deal for Cadbury, and an offer could be announced as early as Jan 23. <\/p>\n (END) Dow Jones Newswires <\/p>\n 01-11-10 0243ET <\/p>\n For full details on (NSRGF) NSRGF<\/a>. (NSRGF) has Short Term PowerRatings at TradingMarkets. Details on (NSRGF) Short Term PowerRatings is available at This Link<\/a>.<\/p>\n Share Investor Links<\/span><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n Share Investor Blog<\/a> – Stockmarket & Business commentary Recommended Amazon Reading<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>
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