Cadbury says Kraft is trying to steal firm December 14, 2009 CADBURY came out guns blazing against the hostile takeover from Kraft yesterday, warning the US giant that its £10bn bid would be “fiercely resisted” and telling shareholders they must not let Kraft “steal” their company on the cheap. The company’s defence document against the 727p cash-and-shares offer contained a unequivocal message for shareholders – that [...]
International Power in GDF merger talks July 19, 2010 BRITISH energy firm International Power (IP) confirmed it had revived merger talks with GDF Energy yesterday, sending its share price soaring. The companies have restarted long-running talks over France’s GDF buying up new shares in IP. Previous talks collapsed in January after the firms failed to agree terms. GDF, already one of the world’s largest [...]
Cadbury to reject Kraft next week December 7, 2009 CADBURY yesterday issued a blunt statement saying it would make a formal response to Kraft’s hostile bid next week, alongside its end of year trading figures. Due to US securities laws “Cadbury is prohibited from publishing any further information, or making any further statement, until it has issued its formal response,” the group said. The [...]
Cable begins M&A review June 1, 2010 BUSINESS secretary Vince Cable yesterday launched a formal investigation into M&A rules. The move comes after intense criticism of Kraft’s conduct in the lead-up to its takeover of Cadbury. It follows calls from Cable’s predecessor Peter Mandelson. The panel will examine whether the threshold of shareholders voting in favour of a bid needs to be [...]
Mandelson refuses to step in to block Cadbury’s takeover December 16, 2009 Lord Mandelson yesterday told a group of MPs he could not step in to prevent a hostile takeover of Cadbury. The business secretary met with MPs from the Birmingham area to discuss the takeover amid fears the Kraft bid would destroy the British company and put jobs at risk. Lord Mandelson also said he would [...]
Kraft to post its Cadbury bid December 3, 2009 KRAFT Foods will today post its offer document to Cadbury shareholders, triggering a two-month £9.8bn takeover fight, sources with knowledge of the situation said. The American food giant has until 7 December to publish its offer document, but the sources said it was expected today, and would be at the same cash and shares terms [...]
PELTZ’S CADBURY STAKE MELTS November 25, 2009 US billionaire investor Nelson Peltz has cut his stake in takeover target Cadbury to 2.68 per cent from 3.03 per cent. Peltz also owns a stake in Kraft, which has launched a hostile £9.8bn bid for?Cadbury. Rival candy-maker Hershey is said to be near to trumping Kraft’s offer, after gaining local political approval.
Kraft’s offer has improved Cadbury’s brand image November 10, 2009 BUSINESS news only rarely makes it into the wider public consciousness, but as the graph shows, this is different when an iconic British brand is facing a takeover by an American company. In early August, Cadbury’s BrandIndex score and share price were around +47 and 536p respectively. The possibility of Kraft’s takeover saw Cadbury’s share [...]
UK firms’ foreign takeovers hit record low in first quarter June 2, 2010 THE number of foreign firms bought by British companies and the amount spent on them fell to their lowest level in more than 20 years in the first three months of 2010, official data showed yesterday. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said spending by UK firms on foreign acquisitions fell to £192m in the [...]
Cable: We won’t stop bid for BP July 12, 2010 THE UK government can do very little to stop a takeover of BP, business secretary Vince Cable told City A.M. yesterday, as suggestions of a large scale approach for the embattled oil major intensified. Cable said that under the Enterprise Act of 2002, the UK government only had a narrow window to intervene and that [...]