Word: krafts
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Three weeks after a $17 billion bid by food giant Kraft - expected to be detailed in offer documents circulated among shareholders from Friday - the tussle to take over tasty British confectioner Cadbury shows no signs of melting. In rejecting Kraft's hostile offer last month, Cadbury labeled it "derisory." Now U.S. rival Hershey has said it's mulling a bid of its own while Italy's Ferrero has also expressed an interest in gobbling Britain's favorite chocolate maker. While some doubt those companies' ability to come up with the money for such a big target, there are no such...
...What's so great about Cadbury? The world's second-largest chocolate company would give Kraft and Ferrero muscle in markets where they are weak. Hershey, meantime, already knows what it's like to team up with the Brits; it's owned the license to the Cadbury brand in the U.S. for years. Like Nestlé, it would probably rather not stand by and watch a combined Cadbury-Kraft become the most powerful chocolate maker in the galaxy. (See pictures of what the world eats...
...task was simple. Tasters sampled a range of chocolates made by Cadbury, Hershey's, Kraft, Nestlé and Ferrero and were then asked to pick a winner in each of four categories. The candies were also put through a separate test to measure how much they might stick together when transported for long distances in my pocket, conditions accurately recreated by placing the chocolates under a desk lamp for a few hours. It was important to ensure that everyone received the same-sized portion of each chocolate, a rule I altered only after people left my office feeling sick...
...there's risk involved for Kraft too. Any time spent mulling a better offer could see a further slide in Kraft's shares and an upturn in performance at Cadbury. After all, the U.K. firm, expected to publish a trading update on Dec. 15, outperformed all other major global food businesses in the third quarter. A rally in sterling, meanwhile, could further add to the cost of boosting Kraft's bid. What's more, "we persist in our belief that neither Nestlé nor Hershey will willingly stand by and be marginalized into distant No. 3 and No. 4 positions...
...Expect Kraft to put up a stiff fight for Cadbury. The British firm's muscle in the U.K., Latin America and major emerging markets like India could bring a powerful lift to a business that has looked sluggish in recent quarters. Not for the first time, Cadbury offers a welcome rush of sugar...