CADBURY BATTLE SET TO BE DECIDED - For months now two of the world's biggest sweet makers have been on the corporate battle zone. Cadbury, which has been around since 1824, has spent months hurling insults at Toblerone and Oreo cookie maker Kraft over what it described as derisory bids to take over one of Britain's best known companies. 'Don't let Kraft steal your company with its derisory offer,' was the battle call from Cadbury chairman Robert Carr only last week. Last night the mood music has changed with the BBC and Bloomberg reporting that a deal has all but been done. Agreement will cost Kraft a reported $19 billion.
Justin Urquhart Stewart, of Seven Investment Management in London, says the deal won't be all cash, Cadbury will have to take some shares as well - which will not be a popular move. However, it still does not preclude anyone else - like US rival Hershey - from coming in afterwards. Kraft will have to borrow about $7 billion to fund the deal, and the analyst says it is not a cheap deal. He says that Kraft needs something like Cadbury to refresh all its old brands which have been around a long time and are looking a little bit tired.
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IRELAND STILL HAS A LONG WAY TO GO, BUT GETTING THERE - A behaviour and attitudes survey into confidence amongst small business finds there is still plenty of distance to travel before Ireland follows other countries and emerges from recession. Around a quarter of small business chief executives were found to be more confident for the future compared to just 12% this time last year. The research was conducted for O2.
Alan Brown, from O2, says that while the quarterly numbers may not seem very high, the readings have more than doubled since last year. He says that 60% of the companies surveyed last year believed they were less confidence, while that number has dropped to 26% this year.
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MORNING BRIEFS - The former state-owned Japanese airline, JAL, - Asia's largest airline by revenue - has been hit by falling passenger numbers making many of its routes unprofitable. It is understood that the airline will remain operational under a state-backed bail out to help with its $16 billion of debts. Around one third of the 47,000 staff are expected to lose their jobs.
*** On the currency markets, the euro is trading at $1.4395 and at around a four month low against sterling at 87.71 pence.
