BHP’s bid provokes poisonous reply August 17, 2010 JUST as the markets were drifting into the final few days of summer – traditionally one of the quietest times of the year for corporate news – up pops mining giant BHP Billiton with a near $40bn proposal to takeover the Canadian fertiliser and animal feed group Potash. Although all sorts of things are possible [...]
Kraft to pump more cash into Cadbury bid January 5, 2010 KRAFT Foods is planning to improve its £10.1bn hostile takeover bid for Britain’s Cadbury using cash from the sale of its frozen pizza business. The US company has sealed a $3.7bn (£2.3bn) deal with Nestlé and will use the money to offer Cadbury’s shareholders an enhanced offer. It will not up the total sum on [...]
Kraft ready to up its bid for Cadbury January 3, 2010 KRAFT Foods is preparing to raise its £10bn hostile bid for Cadbury in order to convince shareholders to accept its takeover. Investors in the British confectionary company have been holding out for a higher offer, and Kraft now wants an extension on the deadline for its current cash-and-shares bid. The offer was due to expire [...]
Union warns that 7,000 Cadbury jobs under threat January 13, 2010 UNION leaders have warned that up to 7,000 jobs could be lost if Kraft’s hostile bid for chocolate maker Cadbury is successful. Unite claim Kraft’s £22bn of debt would put the company under pressure and lead to jobs being axed. The union has issued a briefing to Cadbury investors asking them to put the wider [...]
DS Smith rises as profits soar 227pc to £55m June 24, 2010 DS SMITH, the supplier of packaging and office products, has more than tripled its pre-tax profits on the back of a strong recovery in demand among its industrial and consumer goods clients. The firm notched up a 227 per cent rise in profits to £55m in the year to 30 April on sales of £2.1bn. [...]
BARCAP WINS BRAGGING RIGHTS IN A SQUARE MILE RELAY VICTORY September 9, 2010 TO THE heart of London’s financial community last night for one of the most eagerly-anticipated competitive moments of the year – the annual Bloomberg Square Mile Relay. No less than 100 teams of ten runners thronged the streets to take part in the relay, after months of boot camp-style training regimes to win bragging rights [...]
Buffett won’t back Kraft’s Cadbury bid January 5, 2010 BILLIONAIRE investor Warren Buffett yesterday put a spanner in the works of Kraft’s hostile bid for confectioner Cadbury, voting against plans to issue new shares to fund the acquisition and claiming the current bid structure fundamentally undervalues the US firm’s stock. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway firm, which owns a 9.4 per cent stake in Kraft, said [...]
Takeover panel review is wise and thoughtful June 13, 2010 CORPORATE PARTNER, WHITE & CASE THE consultation document issued by the Takeover Panel shortly after the panel’s censure of Kraft over its successful hostile takeover of Cadbury, unusually does not contain changes to the Takeover Code recommended by the panel. Rather, the Takeover Panel is “seeking to provide a forum in which suggestions for possible [...]
HOW WILL CADBURY’S FINAL DEFENCE AGAINST KRAFT PAN OUT? January 11, 2010 DAVID BUIK | BGC PARTNERS “Cadbury will come out with a brought-forward trading statement which will look electric. Roger Carr will dismiss Irene Rosenfeld and chew her up like a bag of nails. If she can’t improve the bid, it’s goodnight Vienna.” JEREMY BATSTONE-CARR | CHARLES STANLEY “All we’re going to get is top-line numbers. [...]
CITY VIEWS: WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT IN THE CADBURY BID BATTLE? January 4, 2010 JEREMY BATSTONE-CARR | CHARLES STANLEY “Our “Reduce” recommendation is predicated on the view Cadbury will do enough to ensure sufficient shareholder support to see off its rivals. We think it unlikely that [the next trading] update will have disappointed, judging by the strong anecdotal evidence to suggest robust Christmas-related sales activity.” HENK POTTS | BARCLAYS [...]