DTN News: Russia Denies Bid For U.S. Air Tanker Contract

DTN News: Russia Denies Bid For U.S. Air Tanker Contract Source: DTN News / Reuters (NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW, Russia - March 22, 2010: Russia denied on Monday that its state-run United Aviation Corporation (UAC) planned to bid for a $50 billion contract to replace the U.S. Air Force's fleet of air tankers, rivaling Boeing Co and Europe's EADS. John Kirkland, a Los Angeles-based attorney, had told various news media over the weekend that UAC would announce a joint venture on Monday with a U.S. defense contractor to enter the bidding for the tanker deal. UAC denied it had held any talks on bidding for the contract. "We have not been holding, are not holding and are not planning to hold such talks," said a UAC official. Separately, UAC vice-president Alexander Tulyakov said the attorney did not work for the company. "John Kirkland is not a UAC representative and we have had no communications with him (about the tender)," he told Reuters. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had not discussed any Russian role in the contract when they met on Friday, Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. "It was not a topic at the talks," he told Reuters. The U.S. Air Force has been trying for nearly a decade to replace its fleet of Boeing-built KC-135 tanker aircraft, which are close to 50 years old. EADS (Paris:EAD.PA - News), the parent company of Airbus, won a deal in 2008 to build an initial 179 tankers, only to have it canceled after auditors intervened. The Pentagon said last week that EADS had expressed possible interested in continuing to compete with Boeing (BA - News) for the contract. Kirkland quoted Alexander Shishkin, who he said worked for the Russian Federal Service of Military-Technical Cooperation, as saying the U.S.-Russian joint venture being formed to bid would be announced at UAC headquarters on Monday morning. However Shishkin, when contacted by Reuters on Monday, said he could not say anything. He would not even confirm he worked for the Federal Service of Military-Technical Cooperation. "I cannot say anything until the bosses decide something," he said. UAC's Tulyakov also said Russia was making arms sales abroad only via state arms export monopoly Rosoboronexport. "We have held no discussions with them (about the tender)," he added. FANTASY An official at the agency said that there was nobody called Alexander Shishkin listed as working there. Kirkland had said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed a UAC bid for the tanker contract at a meeting with Clinton. Russia's Foreign Ministry declined comment on Monday. Neither Russian nor U.S. officials mentioned at the time any discussions about a tanker bid. Clinton held a bilateral meeting with Lavrov on Thursday and met President Dmitry Medvedev and Putin on Friday separately. Kirkland said that a Russian bid would be based on a widebody version of UAC's Ilyushin-96 aircraft, which he said would be called the Ilyushin-98. "There are some internal discussions within the UAC, but very preliminary ones, about the production of an air tanker based on the Il-96. But to talk about Russian air tankers refueling U.S. military planes -- it is from the realms of fantasy," said a UAC source, who asked not to be named. Fewer than 30 Ilyushin-96 aircraft have been produced and the plane is considered technically inferior to Western competitors. Russian news media reported last year that production of the passenger variant had been canceled, although a cargo version is still in limited production. Russian media have made no mention of a new version of the Il-96 called the Il-98. (Reporting by Gleb Stolyarov and Guy Faulconbridge, additional reporting by Conor Sweeney, writing by Michael Stott and Dmitry Zhdannikov; editing by David Stamp)

DTN News: Business TODAY October 5, 2009 ~ Cadbury Descendant Says Kraft Bid "Horror Story"

DTN News: Business TODAY October 5, 2009 ~ Cadbury Descendant Says Kraft Bid "Horror Story" * Related Info ~ DTN News: Business TODAY September 16, 2009 ~ Kraft CEO Plans Further Deal Talk With Cadbury dated Sept 16, 2009....(Click here for link) *Source: DTN News / Reuters (NSI News Source Info) LONDON, England - October 5, 2009: A member of the Cadbury (CBRY.L) family has described Kraft's (KFT.N) takeover bid for the British confectionery group as a "horror story." In comments to the Sunday Telegraph, Felicity Loudon, whose grandfather Egbert Cadbury was managing director of Cadbury Brothers, said she believed it was worth fighting to keep Cadbury out of the hands of North America's biggest food group. "As a Cadbury I obviously feel particularly saddened by the possibility of one of the last remaining British icons disappearing into an American plastic cheese company." Kraft, whose brands include Milka chocolate and Oreo biscuits, has until Nov 9 to make a formal offer for Cadbury. The British group rejected Kraft's cash and shares approach, initially worth 10.2 billion pounds ($16.22 billion), at the start of September. Loudon told the paper she was unsure if opposition to the bid can be mobilized from the family as she owns only a small number of Cadbury shares and is not particularly close to her brother and half-brothers. (Reporting by Victoria Bryan; editing by John Stonestreet)

DTN News: Business TODAY September 16, 2009 ~ Kraft CEO Plans Further Deal Talk With Cadbury

DTN News: Business TODAY September 16, 2009 ~ Kraft CEO Plans Further Deal Talk With Cadbury

* Related Info ~ DTN News: Business TODAY September 8, 2009 ~ Kraft Foods Makes Pound 10.2 Billion Bid For Cadbury dated Sept 8, 2009....(Click here for link)

*Source: DTN News / Reuters

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - September 16, 2009: Kraft Foods (KFT.N), North America's biggest food group, plans to hold talks in coming weeks with British bid target Cadbury (CBRY.L) that may lead to a new bid offer for the global No.2 candy and chocolate maker. Cadbury's chocolate bars are seen in a shop in London in this June 23, 2006 file photograph. "In the weeks ahead we look forward to engaging in constructive dialogue with the board and management of Cadbury as we continue to assess the opportunity and consider progressing to a final offer," Kraft's Chief Executive Irene Rosenfeld said in a speech to business students in Toronto. Kraft wants to buy the British company as it targets growth after revamping its operations in recent years. (Reporting by Pav Jordan)

DTN News: Business TODAY September 8, 2009 ~ Kraft Foods Makes Pound 10.2 Billion Bid For Cadbury

DTN News: Business TODAY September 8, 2009 ~ Kraft Foods Makes Pound 10.2 Billion Bid For Cadbury *Source: DTN News / AFP

(NSI News Source Info) LONDON, England - September 8, 2009: US snacks company Kraft Foods launched a 10.2 billion pound bid for its British rival Cadbury on Monday, with traders expecting the price to run higher as takeover activity returns to the markets. Cadbury said it had rejected the offer, worth the equivalent of 16.7 billion dollars or 11.7 billion euros, but Kraft said it hoped the confectionery giant would eventually jump on board. Cadbury's share price surged by 41 percent after the announcement. Kraft Foods, the world's second biggest snacks group after Nestle, said it hoped the takeover would increase annual revenues to 50 billion dollars a year. (A bar of Cadbury's chocolate. US giant Kraft Foods has launched a pound10.2 billion takeover bid for Cadbury but the confectionery maker rejected the offer, saying it was too low) "At the moment traders seem to be happy to speculate that a revised offer could well be forthcoming," said David Jones, chief market strategist at financial betting firm IG Index. One analyst said a bidding battle may even occur, as takeover activity returns to the market following the worst economic downturn in decades. Evolution Securities analyst Warren Ackerman, cited by Dow Jones Newswires, said "there is a reasonable chance" that Nestle could take Cadbury's chewing gum business and US group Hershey the chocolate operations. A tie-up between Kraft and Cadbury would merge leading Kraft brands Oreo biscuits and Maxwell House coffee with Cadbury's Dairy Milk chocolate and Trident chewing gum. "Kraft Foods Inc. today announces that it has made a proposal to the board of Cadbury plc to combine the two companies," said a statement issued by Kraft to the London Stock Exchange. The offer "values the entire issued share capital of Cadbury at 10.2 billion pounds," it added. "This proposed combination is about growth," Kraft Foods chairman and chief executive Irene B. Rosenfeld said in her company's statement. "We are eager to build upon Cadbury's iconic brands and strong British heritage through increased investment and innovation." She added: "We hope to engage with the Board of Cadbury on a constructive basis with the goal of consummating a recommended transaction." But Cadbury, led by American chief executive Todd Stitzer, rejected the proposal, saying it "fundamentally undervalues" the company and its prospects. Cadbury also voiced confidence in its "standalone strategy and growth prospects." Shares in Cadbury, the world's second biggest confectionery company behind Mars, shot up 40.76 percent to 799.5 pence in afternoon London trade. Nestle rose 1.15 percent to 43.82 Swiss francs in Zurich. "I do not think that Nestle will counterbid," said independent analyst James Amoroso. "Nestle has much to gain from the disruption that a Kraft takeover would create. Cadbury and Kraft culture is very different and possibly incompatible. The overlaps between Cadbury and Nestle are considerable so that anti-trust issues would be inevitable. Thus, Nestle would not want to pay the premium." Kraft Foods said it had proposed 300 pence in cash and 0.2589 new Kraft Foods shares per Cadbury share. This valued each Cadbury share at 745 pence, 31 percent higher than Cadbury's closing share price last Friday, but below its trading level on Monday. "We believe that Kraft will need to up its offer to have any serious chance of success, perhaps to 800 pence in cash or higher and may need assistance given that it already has around 15 billion dollars debt," said Jeremy Batstone-Carr, an analyst at the Charles Stanley brokerage. Kraft Foods said a tie-up would lift its revenues to about 50 billion dollars a year from 42 billion dollars presently. It added that by combining the groups, plans for about 500 job cuts at Cadbury in Britain would be scrapped.