Swiss food giant Nestlé remained coy over reports it may make a counter-bid for Cadbury, after the UK confectioner this morning (7 September) rejected a GBP10.2bn (US$16.73bn) takeover bid from Kraft Foods.
Speaking at a conference for the inauguration of its Chocolate Centre of Excellence in Broc, Switzerland today, Paul Bulcke, Nestlé CEO, said the bid was “good timing” and that the rumours Nestlé would make a counter-bid were “getting firmer”.
“We are not going to comment on these rumours,” Bulcke told reporters. “I’m not going to comment on possible reactions or expectations from Nestlé’s side, it can only add to speculation that we don’t want to have for the time being.”
However, Bulcke said that the company was “open” for possibilities and opportunities for acquisitions and reiterated that it had a budget of CHF1.5bn to CHF2bn.
“We truly believe that with the categories we’ve got, with the depth that we cover in these categories, we have a good strong base, so the growth is definitely going to come from what we have in our hands.
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By GlobalData“There is quite a lot of further categories we are handling and working in and having leadership positions, so that is what we said always, we are always open for possibilities and opportunities, we are not closing, so there are always possibilities or needs of acquisitions that are strategically fitting into what we have set forward,” he added.
Asked whether Nestlé aspires to be number one in all chocolate, Bulcke said the company is “number one where we want to be number one”.
“Chocolate is not like some other categories, it depends on where the individual brand sits. We have numerous number one positions in chocolate…very very strong positions, it’s not the overall figure.
He added: “Chocolate is a very special world. People don’t go out to a store and say ‘I want to buy the number one chocolate’, they buy their specific brands. This is a country driven by brands, so we want to have strong brands, always several brands in the top five in every country. There is also the US, which is a big chunk of the whole market, if you exclude that, we are quite in front.”
Nestlé today opened its CHF25m (US$24m) Chocolate Centre of Excellence in Broc, Switzerland.
The facility will spearhead Nestlé’s drive in the premium and luxury chocolate segment, the company said, which in turn will influence the company’s entire chocolate range.
