Activist stake sale may spur Cadbury move
OWNERSHIP of Britain’s largest and best-known chocolatier Cadbury could soon be on the move again after an activist investor bought a hefty stake in its parent company Mondelez.
One of America’s best known activist investors William Ackman has built a 7.5pc stake in Mondelez worth $5.5bn (£3.6bn) through his Pershing Capital Management hedge fund.
Mondelez was spun out of Kraft by the conqueror of Cadbury, Irene rosenfeld ( pictured), in 2012 and brings together a portfolio of f amous confectionery brands i ncluding Cadbury, toblerone, Milka, Oreo and trident chewing gum.
the snack and chocolate firm was floated on the US markets as the growth arm of the former Kraft because of its reach into emerging markets such as India and China.
But its performance has been a disappointment to investors and last week it announced i ts seventh straight quarterly drop in sales.
Shares i n Mondelez surged on the new York markets following the disclosure of the Pershing interest and Ack- man now joins another activist nelson Peltz as a large investor in the firm. the arrival of the two activist beasts has led to speculation that Mondelez could be reunited with Kraft.
It is currently owned, along with Heinz, by Brazilian private equity group 3G Capital and Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway group.
Buffett always has had an eye for great brands, including Disney and Coca- Cola, and already has an interest in the confectionery market through See’s Candies, a popular US gift brand.
Mondelez welcomed the arrival of Pershing and insisted it would continue ‘to focus on executing our strategy and on delivering value for shareholders’.
the path to the purchase of Cadbury by Kraft was opened by nelson Peltz in the last decade when, as one of the biggest investors in Cadbury Schweppes, he forced the sale of the soft drinks arm of the UK company.
this paved the way for the January 2010 sale of Cadbury to Kraft for £10.5bn after one of the most closely followed takeovers in British corporate history. It now looks as if the Bournville-based ‘Dairy Milk’ firm could be reunited with Kraft under Brazilian-US control.