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UPDATE 1-Kraft obtains $9 bln loan for Cadbury bid -- RLPC

Wed Nov 4, 2009 5:29am IST
 
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* Nine banks involved

* Lead underwriters include Citi, Deutsche, HSBC

By Smita Madhur and Faris Khan

NEW YORK, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Kraft Foods Inc (KFT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) has obtained a $9 billion in bridge financing from a group of nine banks to back its 10.2 billion pound ($16.7 billion) bid for Britain's Cadbury Plc (CBRY.L: Quote, Profile, Research), bankers told Thomson Reuters LPC.

The nine banks include lead underwriters Citigroup Inc (C.N: Quote, Profile, Research), Deutsche Bank AG (DBKGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research), HSBC Holding Plc (HSBA.L: Quote, Profile, Research) and Barclays Plc (BARC.L: Quote, Profile, Research).

Citi declined to comment on the financing. Kraft was not immediately available to comment.

Kraft needs to show Britain's Takeover Panel that it has committed financing in place before Nov. 9, when it has to bid for a second time or walk away for six months, after Cadbury rejected its initial cash and share bid in September.

Analysts have said they expect Kraft to sweeten the terms of its bid, which is currently split between a 60 percent equity component and a 40 percent cash component.

But Kraft is likely to stick to its initial cash and stock proposal to Cadbury shareholders that was disclosed on Sept. 7, sources familiar with the situation told Reuters this week.  Continued...

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