Ferrero, the Italian chocolate maker, was on Tuesday night debating abandoning a pursuit of Cadbury. It is said the Ferrero family, which controls the group, was close to dropping out of the Cadbury battle following a decision by Michele Ferrero, the group’s chairman. Mr Ferrero was understood to be against the move because it involved too much debt for a company that has traditionally not made acquisitions. On the other hand there are rumors that there is no consensus in the family on this decision. In fact  Rothschild, Ferrero’s financial adviser, insisted the group should not be ruled out. The withdrawal of Ferrero would reduce the chance of a competing bid emerging ahead of a Takeover Panel deadline for counter-offers in late January.

With this new development, the chance of having a second bidder in the stage  gets thinner..Can Hershey make an offer without being backed up by Ferrero is doubtful.

Source: Reuters, Financial Times