Kraft Foods Inc said yesterday it will revise its hostile takeover offer for British chocolate and gum maker Cadbury, offering a greater proportion in cash funded by the sale of its North American pizza business to Nestle.
Nestle, which paid $3.7 billion (Dh13.6 billion) for Kraft's pizza operations — including the Tombstone and Jack's brands in the United States — ruled itself out of a potential bidding war for Cadbury.
Kraft extended the deadline for Cadbury shareholders to accept its offer to 1300 GMT on February 2, and said it would update the market on the level of acceptances so far.
Nestle's brief statement left Kraft still the only declared bidder for Cadbury, though the British company says it has received expressions of interest from The Hershey Co of the United States and Italy's Ferrero International SA.
Kraft said it would use the proceeds from the pizza sale, estimated to be 60 pence per Cadbury share, to fund a partial cash alternative to its cash and shares offer worth £9.8 billion (Dh58 billion).
It promised to post details of the amended offer by January 19, the last date for Kraft to revise its offer.
Nestle, which some had speculated could make a rival bid for Cadbury, instead bought Kraft's Tombstone and Jack's pizza brands, the Delissio brand in Canada and the California Pizza Kitchen trademark licence.
