Reference no: EM133239947

Chocolate Wars - Kraft's acquisition of Cadbury

You are an independent business analyst, and you have been approached by representatives of Kraft Foods Group, Inc., a U.S. food manufacturing conglomerate.

With the benefit of hindsight, they have asked you to look back at Kraft's acquisition of Cadbury, a British confectionary producer, and provide an analysis of the takeover process.

Kraft's executives are mostly interested in assessing whether the hostile takeover of Cadbury was successful, the extent of the damage done to the company's culture due to the forced nature of the acquisition, and whether it could have been done differently. They are also very concerned about whether the bad public image of Kraft's brand which this deal has created in the U.S. will have a lasting, damaging effect on the conglomerate's operations.

Address the following issues:

1. Evaluate the execution of the hostile takeover and suggest what other strategy could have been employed in this situation.

2. Analyse the success of the integration of Cadbury into Kraft's business operations. Critically appraise whether the hostility of the takeover negatively influenced the process and how the negative perception of the deal influenced Kraft's operations in the UK.