Kraft Nears Deadline To Make Cadbury Offer

BETSY VERECKEY

CHICAGO (AP) — The clock is ticking on a Monday deadline for Kraft Foods Inc. to make a formal offer for British candy maker Cadbury PLC.

Kraft, which makes Oreo cookies, Nabisco crackers and its namesake cheese, on Tuesday told investors to keep an eye on its filings — a clue that a bid may be right around the corner.

Monday is the last day permitted for Kraft to "put up or shut up," according to U.K. regulators. If Kraft doesn't make a formal bid by then, it must walk away for six months.

Cadbury spurned Kraft's cash-and-stock offer in September. It was then worth $16.7 billion. It would now be worth less because Kraft's shares have fallen in value.

Kraft previously proposed paying 300 pence in cash and 0.2589 new Kraft shares per Cadbury share, valuing Cadbury shares at 745 pence. That's below Cadbury's closing stock price of 758 pence on Friday.

Kraft first made its offer public in September, but its original proposal was made and rejected earlier in the summer. Since making the offer on Sept. 7, Kraft's shares have declined 3.8 percent, reducing the value of the stock portion of its initial offer.