Cadbury Stands Alone, Sort Of

As Katherine Glover notes on Bnet today, Cadbury is sending out mixed signals in the wake of its rejection of Kraft Foods' (KFT) acquisition bid.

Here's the mixed signal itself, captured in one short paragraph in the Chicago Tribune:"Cadbury said it is 'confident' in its 'stand-alone strategy.' The company's board also said that Kraft's unsolicited offer 'fundamentally undervalues' Cadbury."

So the British confectioner is pursuing a "strategy" of staying independent, but it's also implying that it would sell if the offer were high enough.

Kraft's unsolicited $16.73 billion offer, though it was 31 percent above Cadbury's market cap, wasn't high enough.

Some analysts have agreed, comparing the bid unfavorably to what Mars paid for Wrigley last year. But that comparison was based on Wrigley's earnings multiple, not its market cap—a difference that Kraft today made sure to point out. Executive Vice President Michael Osanloo issued a statement saying that on " the most important comparison point, the premium, our proposal compares favorably. The debate about multiples misses the point."

He added: "Cadbury is worth what someone is willing to pay for it, nothing more."