Swiss food giant Nestlé today [Friday] admitted it would be keen to win back US distribution rights to KitKat, a premium international confectionery brand, but declined to comment on market rumours that it may bid for Hershey Foods.

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Hershey owns the US manufacturing and distribution rights to KitKat and last week put itself on the market. It could be sold for as much as US$12bn.


Among potential bidders are Nestlé, Kraft Foods and Cadbury Schweppes, with Nestlé seen by analysts as the frontrunner at the moment. If another group buys Hershey, the rights to KitKat will revert to Nestlé, making Hershey less attractive to other bidders.


“We have said that we would not comment on whether we are bidders or not,” Nestlé spokesman Francois Perroud told Reuters. “We have also said that we are going to act vigorously to regain the Kit Kat brand (in the US) and, quite evidently, we are following with interest what is happening in our sector.”

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