nosh nook #127 - tuesday, september 8, 2009

will kraft swallow british chocolate-maker cadbury? (link)
09.07.09 - time/cnn - by adam smith

hey, remember when the british ruled? when i say that, i'm talking about when the british actually ruled. yeah, that time's over. not so great now, are we britain? u.s.a! u.s.a.! actually, somebody over in china's probably thinking the same thing right now about us americans. never mind. still, we're much more powerful than the u.k. both militarily & politically & as such, we should totally own as much of them as possible. i'm not just talking about owning lame stuff like sasha baren cohen or newcastle united f.c. either. we need to think bigger than that.

kraft has the right idea. as time/cnn reports, yesterday, kraft (the world's second-largest food & beverage company) revealed that "it had launched a $16.7 billion bid for british confectioner cadbury" in "a bold effort to create 'a global powerhouse in snacks.'" a powerhouse of snacks! ever since "mars picked up chewing gum maker wrigley for $23 billion in 2008—overtaking cadbury to become the world's biggest confectioner," analysts were figuring that somebody would eventually make a bid for cadbury. that's where kraft comes in, although they've reportedly undervalued cadbury with an offer that's "half that tabled by mars in its acquisition of wrigley."

the article's written by adam smith, who has pretty much the best name ever for a business journalist. free market, baby. smith notes that the possibility of a takeover puts cadbury in an interesting position. shareholders would make a lot of money if kraft takes over & kraft's promised to "preserve u.k. staff." if cadbury was to turn down the offer, they'd likely have to cut staff to create higher profits for shareholders, which would piss a lot of brits off. those signs point to cadbury selling & as a result, it's "left some analysts backing the americans." heck, if i can still get my cadbury creme eggs but the profits from my purchase now go to americans instead of brits, i'll back it too. viva la mega-merger! viva la u.s.a.!