PUT UP OR SHUT UP September 30, 2009 Kraft has until 9 November to make a formal offer for Cadbury, or it must walk away for six months the Takeover Panel ruled yesterday. The “put up or shut up” decision has now heaped pressure on Kraft chief executive Irene Rosenfeld (left) to raise the bid to a level which will be accepted by [...]
Kraft boss to jet into London to begin the charm offensive September 20, 2009 Irene Rosenfeld, Kraft’s determined chief executive, is set to jet in to London this week in a bid to convince institutional shareholders to support the group’s proposed takeover of British confectionery firm Cadbury. Rosenfeld, ranked as the sixth most powerful woman in the world by Forbes magazine for the past two years, will hold a [...]
Supermarkets and food staples have a family feel November 24, 2009 BrandIndex asks general questions about brands, but sometimes it’s useful to look at more specific qualities. YouGov recently conducted research on the associations between brands and family values. The recent Family Brands report, conducted for advertising agency Isobel, suggests that association with family values is a useful differential by which we can measure different types [...]
Where the smart money should be heading next year December 16, 2009 AT THE start of 2009, there was a very real chance that we would enter another Great Depression and the banking system was still on its knees. But the past 12 months have been an astonishing year in the markets – stock market indices have risen sharply beyond all expectations and major countries returned to [...]
BANKS TO DISCLOSE ALL PAY OVER 1M November 25, 2009 THE government will today announce plans to implement in full the recommendations of the Walker review, paving the way for a massive shake-up of corporate governance and much greater openness over pay at the City’s largest financial institutions. From 2010 onwards, FTSE-100 banks and comparable financial institutions such as large building societies will be forced [...]
THE TIPSTER November 30, 2009 PUB company Mitchells & Butlers posted a solid set of full-year results last week, which has been followed by potential mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity as a group of major shareholders attempt to wrest control of the board. It is still early days, but with last week’s results underpinning the share price, it is clear [...]
Hostile bid on Kraft’s radar September 9, 2009 KRAFT has opened talks with its bankers to arrange the financing necessary for its £10.2bn bid for Cadbury, in a sign that the US group could go hostile. It is understood that the group is talking to its advisors, Deutsche Bank and Citigroup, about a loan facility of around £5bn, which would be repaid with [...]
ROLET BRINGS IN THE BANKING BIG HITTERS TO EYE UP M&A TARGETS September 30, 2009 MUCHOS excitement on the markets yesterday after Xavier Rolet continued in his quest to stamp his mark on the London Stock Exchange by axing its long-standing M&A advisers. Rolet has made no secret of his ambitious plans for the exchange, which he hopes to turn into a £10bn business via a number of strategic acquisitions [...]
Kraft may have to sweeten deal September 7, 2009 KRAFT’s £10.2bn approach to Cadbury may have been rejected by Todd Stitzer’s board, but it did not surprise those who have been anticipating more M&A activity since Mars’s high-profile takeover of Wrigley was announced in April last year. The deal – which saw Mars pay $23bn (£14.1bn) in cash for America’s largest chewing-gum maker – [...]
Kraft may have to sweeten deal September 7, 2009 KRAFT’s £10.2bn approach to Cadbury may have been rejected by Todd Stitzer’s board, but it did not surprise those who have been anticipating more M&A activity since Mars’s high-profile takeover of Wrigley was announced in April last year. The deal – which saw Mars pay $23bn (£14.1bn) in cash for America’s largest chewing-gum maker – [...]