Kraft launches hostile bid for Cadbury

The Associated Foreign Press reports that Kraft Foods has launched a hostile 9.8-billion-pound takeover bid for Cadbury. The cash and stocks offer matches the terms of Kraft''s original bid in September. However, changes to currency and stock market values since then means the new bid is worth 9.8 billion pounds (11.0 billion euros, 16.4 billion dollars), less than the original offer of 10.2 billion pounds. Before the bid, Kraft was approaching the deadline to launch a formal bid or walk away for six months under British takeover rules. Cadbury recently stepped up its defense against a takeover by Kraft by upgrading its sales forecast after a third-quarter rise. A stronger sales outlook makes a takeover of Cadbury less attractive to its shareholders, who are likely to judge that the company is profitable enough without being merged with a bigger company.