Ferrero 'hungers for £5bn Cadbury chewing gum unit'

Italian chocolate maker Ferrero could be interested in Cadbury's gum and candy division, a unit worth about £5 billion, in a possible joint takeover bid, business daily Il Sole 24 Ore said today.

Ferrero and Hershey in the US are considering a joint offer for the UK confectioner, which is the target of a £10 billion hostile bid from Kraft Foods. A Hershey-Ferrero takeover would have the goal of breaking up Cadbury. The Ferrero family would like the chewing gum and candy division alone since it has little interest in sharing management.

The family is expected to meet advisers Mediobanca and Rothschild ROT.UL in coming days to discuss a possible deal. Italy's two biggest banks, Intesa Sanpaolo SpA and UniCredit SpA could be among those interested in financing the deal.

Kraft's offer for Cadbury is widely regarded as too low to secure a deal. Investors are hoping that the emergence of a Ferrero/Hershey offer will prompt a bidding war.