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 Cadbury plc's (NYSE:CBY) apparent vacillation about an unwanted approach from Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE:KFT) has had unintended consequences.Whether or not Cadbury CEO Todd Stitzer meant to transmit "come hither" signals to its suitor this week, after chairman Roger Carrr had dismissed a merger several days earlier as an "unappealing prospect," his comments have reportedly attracted the interest of the U.K.'s Takeover Panel. In appearing to name an acceptable price by specifying multiples of recent food industry transactions and later downplaying the comments as merely indicative, Stitzer and Cadbury may have created the uncertainty the regulator reportedly fears. And by making the comments at a private investor meeting -- they were later disseminated by Bank of America Merrill Lynch sales specialist Simon Archer -- Stitzer has breached Takeover Panel restrictions on selective disclosure, the Financial Times reported. The reported regulatory scrutiny could hamper Cadbury's efforts to convince the Takeover Panel to issue Kraft with a deadline to either table a bid or walk away. A "put up or shut up deadline," if issued, would likely give Kraft up to eight weeks to lodge an offer and would put pressure on Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) and Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE:DB) to secure financing for a bid. The Financial Times didn't say what sparked the regulator scrutiny, and it's unclear whether Kraft itself made a complaint. A Kraft spokesman Friday wouldn't comment. Of its financing efforts he said: "It's going very much as expected. We've had a lot of expressions of interest and as and when we have something to announce we will comment." A Cadbury spokesman wouldn't comment on the Financial Times report, while a spokesman for the regulator wasn't immediately available. Kraft woke equity markets from their late summer slumber and galvanized takeover enthusiasm worldwide on Sept. 7 when it took public an unsuccessful stock-and-cash approach for the maker of Dairy Milk chocolate and Trident. The offer, which was worth 745 pence as of Sept. 4, was worth 720.8 pence by Thursday's closing price, valuing Cadbury's total equity at £9.9 billion ($16.1 billion). Cadbury shares late morning Friday were up 4 pence at 799.5 pence. - Laura Board
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