Shares in bid-target Cadbury firmed 4.5p to 793p amid hopes the phony bid war may soon spark into some real takeover action.
The confectionery group has asked the Takeover Panel to make a "put up or shut up" ruling, which would require unsolicited bidder Kraft Foods to either make a formal move on its £10.2bn approach or walk away for at least six months.
When the US owner of Dairylea and Toblerone made its unwanted approach to Cadbury last month, its offer was worth 745p a share. But Cadbury shares have remained comfortably above Kraft's terms on hopes of an increased offer or rival bid move.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal today, Cadbury chief executive Todd Stitzer appeared to have softened his anti-Kraft rhetoric, admitting that a combination of the two companies makes "some strategic sense."
"I would never say there's not some strategic sense in these businesses coming together," he told the WSJ.
