(Crain's) -- Kraft Foods Inc. has reached a $19-billion deal to acquire British candymaker Cadbury PLC, the New York Times reported late Monday.
The deal, which could not be independently confirmed, would make Northfield-based Kraft the world's largest candymaker. It also would represent a triumph for Kraft CEO Irene Rosenfeld, who pursued Cadbury for four months. Cadbury executives spurned her original $17 billion cash-and-stock bid as too low and tried to drum up competing offers.
Although Hershey Co. was reportedly working to line up financing for a bid, the Pennsylvania chocolate maker had not presented an offer as of Monday evening.
Kraft Foods Inc. significantly increased the cash portion with its latest offer, the Times reported. Although Warren Buffett and other large Kraft shareholders warned Ms. Rosenfeld against overpaying for Cadbury, they were most concerned about the risk of issuing too much stock in the deal. Her new bid appears to alleviate that concern without raising the overall price too high.
The deal would value Cadbury at about 840 pence a share, roughly 5% above the closing price of Cadbury stock Monday.
The Times reported that the deal could be announced Tuesday morning, but talks are still going on and could fall apart. Kraft must submit its final offer by midnight Tuesday under British takeover rules.
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