The reason the offer was lower than the September proposal, Cadbury’s board said, was because Kraft’s share price declined 4 percent since then.  “Kraft’s offer does not come remotely close to reflecting the true value of our company,” Mr. Carr said, “and involves the unattractive prospect of the absorption of Cadbury into a low-growth conglomerate business model.”  Kraft now must post an official offer to Cadbury shareholders, which triggers a period for investors to respond.  Analysts had long supported Kraft’s rationale for the merger, which would add Trident gum and Dairy Milk chocolates to Kraft’s brands and help the American food company expand into faster-growing countries like India, South Africa and Mexico. But they said Kraft would have to increase its offer to at least £8 a Cadbury share to succeed.  “We remain convinced of the strategic merits for both companies of combining Kraft Foods and Cadbury,” the Kraft chief executive, Irene Rosenfeld, said in a statement. “We believe that our proposal offers the best immediate and long-term value for Cadbury’s shareholders and for the company itself.”  Rival bidders for Cadbury have not emerged. Kraft’s move on Monday was the result of a deadline set by Britain’s Takeover Panel to either make a bid Monday or be barred from making another for Cadbury for six months.  This month, Kraft cut its forecast for net organic revenue growth, disappointing analysts even as its third-quarter results beat expectations. Cadbury’s management and board have said that Kraft’s offer substantially undervalues its future prospects.  Last month, Cadbury reported stronger-than-expected results, which it said reinforced its argument that the company’s prospects were better as an independent entity than as part of a “low-growth” conglomerate.  Kraft reiterated that it expected a merger to achieve $625 million in pretax annual cost savings and that there was “potential for meaningful revenue synergies.” A combination would create a global food and confectionery giant with more than 40 confectionery brands and annual revenue of $50 billion, Kraft said.  Since Kraft first showed interest in September, analysts and deal makers have watched the repartee with Cadbury in what would be one of the biggest mergers this year, if Kraft succeeds. Both sides have already hired teams of investment banks and law firms to gird for a fight that could last months.  Julia Werdigier reported from London and Michael J. de la Merced from New York.  A version of this article appears in print on November 10, 2009, on Page B3 of the New York edition with the headline: Kraft’s Bid for Cadbury Unsweetened. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe
Kraft took its $16.3 billion bid for the British chocolate and chewing gum maker directly to shareholders after the Cadbury board rejected the offer as too low.