Nestle in Cadbury bid

Food giant Nestle says it does not intend to table a takeover bid for Cadbury, despite recent speculation. Nestle had been linked to a possible offer following Kraft Food's hostile bid for Cadbury, announced in December. Separately, Kraft has announced it will increase the proportion of cash in its offer to Cadbury shareholders in order to make its bid more attractive. Kraft will use cash made from the sale of its north American pizza business - sold to Nestle for $3.7 bn (£2.3 bn). More cash The sale means Kraft will be able to offer an extra 60 p per share in cash, though the overall value of the offer is not being increased. The company will announce full details of its new offer before 16 January. KRAFT BID TIMELINE 7 Sept: Kraft tables offer for Cadbury, valuing the company at about £10 bn. The bid is immediately rejected by the Cadbury board 9 Nov: Kraft goes hostile with its takeover bid, and Cadbury again rejects the offer 4 Dec: Kraft details offer aimed at Cadbury shareholders, setting 5 January deadline 14 Dec: Cadbury publishes its defence document, urging its shareholders to reject the Kraft offer 31 Dec: Deadline for shareholders to accept the Kraft bid is extended to 2 February 5 Jan: Kraft announces revised offer with higher cash proportion 15 Jan: Deadline for Cadbury to issue trading update 19 Jan: Deadline for Kraft to publish details of revised offer 2 Feb: Deadline for Cadbury shareholders to accept Kraft bid Kraft's original bid was £3 plus 0.26 new Kraft shares for each Cadbury share - a deal that analysts said would be unlikely to tempt shareholders. The Cadbury board responded by again calling the offer "derisory". "Despite this tinkering, the Kraft offer remains unchanged and derisory with less than half the consideration in cash," it said in a statement. James Targett, an analyst at Consumer Equity Research, said it was not clear what difference the extra cash would make. "It might tempt a few shareholders who want a bit more cash, but nothing's really changed from Cadbury's management's perspective - they still see the offer as undervaluing the company," he told the BBC. He added that Kraft would be reluctant to raise its offer while it remained the only bidder in the running. Pizza deal Nestle was among the possible rival bidders expected to enter the fray. On Monday, that speculation was fuelled when Nestle sold its remaining stake in eye-care group Alcon to Novartis for $28.1 bn (£17.5 bn) - a deal perceived as freeing up cash for a Cadbury bid. However, on Tuesday it instead spent some of that money buying Kraft's frozen pizza business, which sells brands including DiGiorno and California Pizza Kitchen in the US and Canada. In a statement, Nestle said its decision not to make, or participate in, a formal offer for Cadbury followed discussions with the UK Takeover Panel - the body in charge of regulating takeovers. That leaves Kraft as the only current bidder for Cadbury, although US confectioner Hershey has previously expressed its interest in a possible bid.