Cadbury stresses Kraft bid makes no strategic sense

LONDON (Reuters) - Cadbury's CBRY.L CEO Todd Stitzer said on Friday he did not believe that Kraft's (KFT.N) multi-billion pound bid for Cadbury made strategic or financial sense as he looked to clarify previously reported remarks.

"For the avoidance of doubt, Mr Stitzer does not believe that Kraft's proposal makes strategic or financial sense for Cadbury and his comments should not be interpreted in any other way," a Cadbury statement said.

Cadbury added that commentary on this issue has misconstrued Stitzer's remarks to imply a softening of his view regarding a combination between Kraft and Cadbury.

Stitzer talked to investors at a Bank of America/Merrill Lynch conference on Wednesday and was cited in a note distributed by the bank looking at the strategic sense of a deal and potential valuations for Cadbury.

The bank later moved to clarify Stitzer's remarks saying his comments on valuation were only made in the context of comparable transactions in the industry and did not imply a fair value for the business.

Kraft launched its cash and share deal for Cadbury on September 7 which was promptly rejected. Later Cadbury's Chairman Roger Carr said it was an "unappealing prospect" being absorbed into Kraft's "low growth conglomerate business."

The initial bid was valued at 745 pence a Cadbury share or 10.2 billion pounds ($16.31 billion), but the fall in Kraft share price currently puts the value of the bid at 729 pence or 10 billion pounds compared with Cadbury's current share price up 0.5 percent at 799p.

(Reporting by David Jones; editing by Sitaraman Shankar and David Cowell)