August 2009 - Irene Rosenfeld, chairman and chief executive of Kraft, approaches Cadbury chairman Roger Carr about a possible Kraft offer for the British company.
August 31 - Mr Carr writes to Ms Rosenfeld, informing her that Cadbury’s board had rejected the initial offer as too low.
September 7 - Kraft makes an informal approach to Cadbury, valuing the company at £10.2 billion. Cadbury’s board rejects the offer almost immediately. Cadbury’s share price rises 42 per cent as the market first hears of the deal.
September 12 – Mr Carr sends an open letter to Ms Rosenfeld, including a stinging rebuke to Kraft’s proposal
September 16 - Todd Stitzer, chief executive of Cadbury, delivers a bullish assessment of the company’s business strategy to investors at a Sanford Bernstein conference, emphasising its growth prospects in emerging markets.
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Warren Buffett, whose investment vehicle owns close to 10 per cent of Kraft, warns Ms Rosenfeld not to over-pay for Cadbury.
September 20 - Cadbury asks the Takeover Panel to impose a “put up or shut up” order on its American predator
September 23 - Mr Stitzer is quoted as saying Kraft’s bid made some strategic sense, according to a note from Bank of America/Merrill Lynch. The chief executive later says his words were misconstrued.
October 14 - Bruce Wasserstein, head of Lazard, which is advising Kraft on the deal, dies
October 21 - Cadbury’s third quarter results beat expectations with a 7 per cent sales rise.
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November 3 - Kraft reduces its sales forecast from 3 per cent to 2 per cent but unveils profits significantly ahead of analysts’ expectations
John Paulson, the hedge fund billionaire, spends about £50 million raising his stake in the Dairy Milk maker to 2.54 per cent, from 2.08 per cent
November 9 - Kraft launches hostile bid for Cadbury. The bid is now worth £9.8 billion as Kraft’s share price has fallen
November 18 - Hershey and Ferrero, the confectioners, confirm that they are considering making a bid for Cadbury
November 20 - Richard Lambert, Director-General of the CBI, attacks the role that hedge funds with short-term interests will play in the hostile takeover bid for Cadbury by Kraft, the US chocolate giant
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November 22 - Mr Carr indicates that Hershey may be preferred by the Cadbury board as a bidder because its values are similar
December 4 - Kraft posts its 180-page circular explaining its bid to shareholders
December 14 - Cadbury launches its defence against Kraft’s bid, raising financial targets again and promising higher dividends
January 5 - Kraft sells its frozen pizza arm to Nestle for $3.7 billion
Mr Buffett warns the company not to pay too much or spend too many shares on the deal and says that he will not back the issuing of new shares to pay for Cadbury
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Nestle confirms it will not bid for Cadbury
January 7 – Speculation mounts Hershey and Cadbury are talking about a possible deal to thwart Kraft’s bid
January 12 - Cadbury again rejects Kraft’s offer as it announces that sales rose 5 per cent in 2009
January 13-14 - Irene Rosenfeld visits the UK to woo Cadbury shareholders. Several turn down meetings with her as Kraft’s offer is still below 800p per share
January 19 - Cadbury’s board recommends a raised offer by Kraft of 840p plus a 10p dividend for each Cadbury share, valuing the confectioner at £11.9 billion
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January 25 – Deadline for Hershey or Ferrero to make a counter bid for Cadbury
February 2 – Deadline for Cadbury shareholders to accept Kraft’s bid