Cadbury Rejects Private-Equity Bid -- FT

Ordinary shares of Cadbury Schweppes in London are trading lower after a report by the Financial Times said the company's board of directors rejected a £6.4 billion to £6.9 billion ($13B - $14B) private-equity bid last week for its beverages unit. The private-equity offer was the second made by a consortium consisting of Blackstone Group LP, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Lion Capital LLP. Without name its source, the FT says Cadbury reportedly was not satisfied with the terms of the offer, which included a vendor-financing proposal. The FT says the board's rejection increases the possibility Cadbury's beverages unit, which includes soft drink brands Dr Pepper and 7Up, will be spun off into the market rather than sold outright. Cadbury originally announced it would sell or spin off the unit in March, but in July was forced to delay the sale, citing "extreme volatility" in debt markets. Cadbury shares were last down 0.4% to 585 pence after losing as much as 2.6% in early trading.

Sources: Bloomberg, MarketWatch
Commentary: Cadbury Schweppes Leverages The Net For Product Development • Coca-Cola, Eyeing Snapple, Approaches Bidders for Cadbury's Drinks Business • Cadbury Schweppes to Sell Beverage Unit
Stocks/ETFs to watch: CSG, BX

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Comments

[Carpe Max:]

It is not all bad news for Cadbury Schweppes today. Campbell Soup Company announced today that it intends to sell its Godiva Chocolate division. A Knowledge Map from NewsVisual maps out the executive connections between Campbell's and Cadbury Schweppes www.newsvisual.com/new.... Along with Hershey's, it seems that Cadbury Schweppes could be a potential strong bidder for Godiva given the strong executive connections between Campbell and Cadbury Schweppes.

2007 Sep 14 08:07 PM