Ferré & Consulting Blog (English Version)

Details of the deal between British confectioner Cadbury and Kraft have emerged which show the US food manufacturer paid the equivalent of 850p per share.

It is thought that the deal was finally clinched in the early hours of the morning on Wednesday January 20th, with Cadbury accepting an offer worth £11.9 billion from Kraft.

The Times reports that Cadbury’s chairman Roger Carr, turned down offers of 830p and 840p per share before a deal was finally agreed.

However, the move has already been criticised by Legal and General, Cadbury’s largest UK shareholder.

Mark Burgess, the head of active equities at Legal and General Investment Management, said: “We are disappointed management have recommended the offer for this iconic and unique British company.”

He added that the firm was “grateful” for the way it was consulted with but “the final offer fails to fully reflect the long-term value of the company”.

The board of Cadbury had been urging shareholders to reject Kraft’s previous offers, branding them “derisory” and “inadequate”.

Companies Cadbury, Kraft

Like-for-like sales at Northern Foods PLC during the third quarter ended 26 December were flat compared with a year ago, reflecting the company’s planned exit from marginal frozen pastry contracts. For the nine months ended 26 December, like-for-like sales were up 1.9%, led by good growth from the company’s chilled and bakery operations.

“Northern Foods has delivered a resilient Christmas trading performance,” said Stefan Barden, chief executive officer. “Market conditions remain competitive, but at this stage of the year, our sales and profit expectations for the current financial year remain unchanged and in line with market expectations. With a strong balance sheet, we are well placed going forward.”

The company’s bakery division had underlying revenue growth of 1.4% in the third quarter, reflecting strong performance in biscuits, which was offset partially by lower volumes in puddings.

“Our Fox’s brand continued its momentum with the re-launch of ‘Rocky,’ supported by an innovative TV, radio and on-line campaign, which attracted 1.4 million new customers to the brand,” Northern Foods said. “Our market leading Christmas pudding manufacturer increased marketing investment behind the Matthew Walker brand, which will support our strong position next Christmas.”

In the chilled division, underlying sales grew 5.4%, driven by strong demand for sandwiches and salads.

Frozen underlying revenue eased 10.5% due to the elimination of low-margin sales, as well as the simplification of the company’s manufacturing footprint and investment in the McDougall’s pie brand.

Companies bakery division, Northern Foods