Suitor Crunches Numbers On £200m Cadbury Deal

The American food behemoth which swooped on Cadbury in a controversial takeover six years ago is in talks to buy the unit which makes biscuits bearing the British brand’s name.

Sky News has learnt that Mondelez recently approached Burton's Biscuits, the owner of Wagon Wheels, with an offer to buy its Cadbury licence.

The proposal was said to have been valued at approximately £200m, according to people close to the situation, although they cautioned that discussions between Mondelez and Burton's were at an early stage and may not result in a deal.

If the talks do come to fruition, a deal would unite the two separate parts of the Cadbury empire under Mondelez's ownership.

Mondelez was spun out of Kraft Foods (NasdaqGS: KRFT - news) following its £11bn takeover of Cadbury, a deal which ignited a political firestorm at the time and had far-reaching ramifications for the UK's takeover code.

Those consequences were thrown into sharp focus this week with the £24.3bn offer from Japan's Softbank for ARM Holdings (LSE: ARM.L - news) , Britain's biggest technology company.

Softbank pledged to double the number of UK-based ARM employees within five years, a commitment which will be legally binding following changes to the rules in the aftermath of the Cadbury takeover.

After buying the British confectioner, Kraft reneged on a promise to retain its British manufacturing sites,

The talks between Mondelez and Burton's come as a deal for the latter to acquire Fox's Biscuits looks to have stalled over the price expectations of Fox's owner.

Burton's, which is majority-owned by the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, a giant Canadian pension fund, is said to be pessimistic about the prospects of buying Fox's from 2 Sisters Food Group.

It also lost out in an attempt to buy United Biscuits, the owner of Jaffa Cakes and Penguin, in 2014, with the company sold to Turkey's Yildiz.

Mondelez, meanwhile, also has much larger corporate targets in its sights.

Last month, it saw a $23bn (£17bn) offer to buy the Hershey Company, maker of venerable American chocolate brands such as Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, rejected.

Mondelez has pledged to preserve Hershey's culture and local jobs in Pennsylvania if it does acquire its rival, although members of Hershey's governing trust are reported to be sceptical.

People close to the situation said that Mondelez's offer for Burton's Cadbury licence was made after its interest in Hershey was disclosed.

Burton's, which is being advised by Centerview Partners, declined to comment, while Mondelez, which is using Deutsche Bank (LSE: 0H7D.L - news) , could not be reached for comment.