Kraft gets 91% Cadbury shareholders' nod for takeover

American confectionery major Kraft Foods today said it has received "valid acceptances" from nearly 91 per cent of Cadbury shareholders for its 11.9- billion pound takeover deal.

Kraft has also started the procedure to compulsorily buy all of the outstanding Cadbury shares.

As on February 12, Kraft has received valid acceptances in respect of 1,254,238,458 Cadbury shares (including those represented by Cadbury ADSs), representing around 90.76 per cent of the existing issued share capital as well as voting rights of Cadbury, it said in a statement on Monday.

According to the US firm, Cadbury security holders who have not yet accepted and wish to accept the offer should take action to accept the same as soon as possible.

Earlier this month, Kraft had said it has started the move to delist the British chocolate maker by March 8.

"It is anticipated that cancellation of listing and trading will take effect no earlier than on March 8, 2010," Kraft had said. It had noted that once the shares are delisted, Cadbury would be re-registered as a private company.

In January, the Cadbury board had "unanimously" recommended the takeover offer from Kraft worth about 11.9 billion pound to its shareholders.

Once the Cadbury-Kraft merger is over, the combined group will have dominant presence in markets across the world, including India, and would have over 40 confectionery brands with each of them having annual sales in excess of $100 million.