person:cadbury

  • Tough time to sell Ukraine president’s “mouthwatering” candy empire: Thomson Reuters Business News - MSN Money
    http://money.msn.com/business-news/article.aspx?feed=OBR&date=20140914&id=17930293

    A chance to buy the candy empire of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is the kind of opportunity in a fast-growing market that would normally have multinational confectioners - like Nestle or Cadbury’s parent Mondelez - drooling at the prospect.

    But despite owning factories in four countries and making $1.2 billion in annual sales, Ukraine’s “chocolate king” may have a hard time finding a buyer for his company, now that its founder is the leader of a country at war.
    (…)
    Financial sources closely following the deal said that given the tense political situation, any sales process is likely going to be complicated because commercial or strategic logic won’t apply. Large international players are unlikely to table bids before the conflict is clearly over, they said.

    Roshen did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. ICU could not be reached. Rothschild declined to comment beyond confirming that it had been hired.

    Roshen would be attractive to confectionary companies in the low-to-mid-market chocolate range who are keen on expanding in emerging markets and willing to navigate political interference.

    Mars, the world’s biggest chocolatier, is unlikely to be interested because it only markets its own brands. But in addition to Nestle and Mondelez, interested parties could include Korean firm Lotte which entered the region in 2010 with the purchase of Poland’s Wedel from Kraft Foods, and Turkish food manufacturer Ulker.