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Friday, January 22, 2010

Warren Buffett attacks Kraft's bid for Cadbury

Warren Buffett, the largest shareholder in Kraft, has attacked the company's takeover bid for Cadbury.

The billionaire investor holds a 9.4 per cent stake in Kraft and has described the firm's $19 billion bid for the British chocolate manufacturer as a mistake.

Speaking to CNBC, Mr Buffett said: "I've got a lot of doubts about the deal.

"If I had the chance to vote on this, I'd vote no."

Mr Buffett said that Kraft will also have to pay around $390 million in deal expenses to carry out its takeover.

He added that he feels "poorer" after the company sold off its pizza business for $3.7 billion earlier this month to Nestle to help fund the Cadbury deal.

Mr Buffett criticised that deal, saying that Kraft was actually only making $2.5 billion when taxes were taken into consideration.

Earlier this week, Irene Rosenfeld, chairman and chief executive officer of Kraft, said the Cadbury takeover will deliver "highly attractive returns" for company shareholders.

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