Cadbury makes offer for gum business

Chocolate and soft drinks group Cadbury Schweppes has increased its offer for the Adams chewing gum business to $4.3bn (€4.26bn), a report said today.

Cadbury is now said to be the front-runner in the auction for Adams, which owns the Dentyne and Bubbaloo gums and the Halls throat lozenges brands.

The business was put up for sale by US parent Pfizer in the summer. Pfizer bought Adams as part of its acquisition of Warner-Lambert in 2000 and put it up for auction after a two year bar on sell it expired.

The Observer newspaper today said Cadbury increased its offer by more than $100m (€99m) on Friday.

It said the winner of the contest would be declared within 10 days and sources said Cadbury was now the front-runner in the contest.

Swiss group Nestle and US giant Kraft Foods are understood to have been in the contest but their interest is said to have cooled.

Cadbury is seen as being keen to buy Adams after its failure to secure the Hershey chocolate business in the summer.

A spokeswoman for Cadbury refused to comment.