Kraft CEO satisfied with sweetened Cadbury deal

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Kraft Foods Inc CEO Irene Rosenfeld said on Tuesday that the four-month-long, sometimes acrimonious, battle for Cadbury yielded a deal that fits nicely with Kraft's expectations.

"At the end of the day, we would pay what we thought this outfit was worth," Rosenfeld said of the British chocolatier. "I believe paying 13-times EBITDA for an asset of this quality is a very good price."

Kraft on Tuesday announced a friendly deal to pay about $19.6 billion for Cadbury, or 850 pence a share.

That is up from 745 pence when Kraft's original offer was announced in September, but still below the 900 pence or more that some Cadbury shareholders had sought publicly.

Rosenfeld said in an interview that she was able to find additional cost savings in combining the two companies after talking with Cadbury chairman Roger Carr on Monday. Those cost savings were mostly in general and administrative expenses.

Despite the higher price, Rosenfeld said the deal will still meet Kraft's goals of adding to earnings by the second year after closing, maintaining Kraft's dividend and its investment grade credit rating.

Rosenfeld said she expected the company's credit rating to be confirmed later on Tuesday.

(Editing by Michele Gershberg)