Kraft Foods to take over Cadbury
Tuesday 19th January
After much speculation and to-ing and fro-ing over the last few months Kraft’s bid for Cadbury’s is being finalised. The move ends one of the City’s most fiercely contested bid battles, and Cadbury’s decision comes after Kraft raised its offer from £10.5 billion to about £11.7 billion, or roughly 761p per Cadbury share to 840p a share, plus a 10p a share dividend to Cadbury shareholders. The deal ends a proud heritage for Cadbury as an independent company and their role in the history of chocolate is key. The chocolate maker dates back to 1824 when John Cadbury, a Birmingham Quaker, began selling cocoa-based drinks in his tea and coffee emporium. Kraft bought Terry’s, another iconic British chocolate company, in 1993 and closed its York factory two years later. Kraft owns confectionery brands such as Milka and Toblerone but has a poor reputation among many in the food industry because it makes most of its money from processed cheese and meat. The deal isn’t finalised, Hershey’s have until the weekend to put in a rival offer but whatever happens it’s almost certain that Cadbury’s will cease to be a British company which is such a shame as one of the nation’s favourite brands.
