Cadbury, the 186-year-old British confectionery group which yesterday accepted an improved £11.7bn ($19bn) takeover bid from Kraft, justified its decision to sell out to the US food group as the price of globalisation.
拥有186年历史的英国糖果品牌吉百利(Cadbury)昨日宣布，接受卡夫食品(Kraft)经过改进的117亿英镑（合190亿美元）的收购价，并为自己出售给这家美国食品集团的决定进行辩护，称其为全球化的代价。
“The reality is we are part of a global business,” Cadbury chairman Roger Carr told the FT yesterday after recommending shareholders accept the higher Kraft offer valuing Cadbury at 850p per share. “Although Cadbury's roots are deeply buried in Britain, the development of the company has been all over the world.”
吉百利董事长罗杰•卡尔(Roger Carr)告诉英国《金融时报》：“现实是，我们是一个全球行业的一部分。”之前，卡尔建议股东接受卡夫调高的报价——卡夫对吉百利的估值是每股850便士。“尽管吉百利的根深扎在英国，但公司的发展一直是全球的。”
Irene Rosenfeld, Kraft's chief executive, said she felt “great” after securing the Cadbury board's recommendation after a fierce, five-month takeover battle, and hoped to meet Cadbury employees next week.
卡夫首席执行官艾琳•罗森菲尔德(Irene Rosenfeld)表示，经过长达5个月的激烈收购战后，吉百利董事会的推荐让她感到“非常高兴”，并期待下周能与吉百利员工会面。
She said she did not expect yesterday's deal to be usurped by a counter-bid from US confectionery group Hershey: “Never say never but I think we have laid out a fair price...we're assuming we move forward.”
她表示，自己认为昨日的交易不会被美国糖果公司好时(Hershey)的竞争性报价打乱：“话不能说死，但我认为我们的要价很合理……我们假定自己会推进这宗交易。”
However, Legal & General Investment Management, Cadbury's second biggest shareholder, expressed unhappiness with the deal: “We believe the increased and final offer for Cadbury PLC by Kraft Foods Inc. fails to fully reflect the long term value of the company. We are disappointed management have recommended the offer for this iconic and unique British company.”
不过，吉百利第二大股东Legal & General Investment Management对该交易表示不满：“我们认为，卡夫食品对吉百利提出的经过调高的最终收购价，未能全面体现公司的长期价值。对于（吉百利）这样一家 举世无双的标志性英国公司，管理层竟然推荐如此之报价，我们感到失望。”
Mr Carr's decision to recommend Kraft's offer has also sparked outrage among some of the descendents of Cadbury's founding family. Felicity Loudon, a great granddaughter of George Cadbury, the man who built up the company, said her ancestors would be “turning in their graves” if they knew Cadbury had been “acquired by a company that “makes cheese to go on hamburgers”.
卡尔决定推荐卡夫的报价，也让吉百利创始家族的部分后裔感到愤怒。 公司创始人乔治•卡德伯里(George Cadbury)的曾孙女费利西蒂•洛顿(Felicity Loudon)表示，如果知道吉百利被一家“生产放在汉堡包上的奶酪”的公司收购，她的祖先“会气得在坟墓里打滚”。