DealZone

Hershey is still working on a bid for Cadbury that would top Kraft’s 10.5 billion pound bid for the British confectioner. As the clock ticks down for rivals to enter the fray, Hershey — the one remaining party to declare its hand — has still not decided if it will table a formal offer, but has authorized the drawing up of a bid. At the same, Kraft has stepped up the charm offensive with Chief Executive Irene Rosenfeld visiting Cadbury shareholders in London. She has found some doors shut, however, indicating that investors find the bid too low.

First round bids for debt-ridden film studio MGM are due on Friday, with 12 companies having expressed an interest in the business, including rivals Time Warner and Lions Gate Entertainment, as well as Liberty Media, News Corp and private equity firms. Non-binding bids for the studio, controlled by a consortium of private equity and media firms, are expected to come in at $1.5 billion to $2 billion, way below $3.7 billion it owes its lenders.

Telecoms billionaire Carlos Slim has launched a $21 billion bid to unite Telmex and Telmex Internacional with Latin America’s top mobile phone provider America Movil. Slim, who controls all three companies, wants to create a leading fixed-line, mobile and internet services company to stave off competition from rivals.

Luxembourg-based investment firm Genii Capital, in cahoots with Formula One tycoon Bernie Ecclestone, over a bid for Swedish carmaker Saab said it has submitted a revised offer. It hopes the new bid will show owner General Motors it has the financial clout to run Saab and encourage the U.S. car giant to reverse its plan to wind up the business.

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In other media:

Private equity firm BC Partners has dropped out of the race to acquire budget fashion and homewares retailer Matalan, the FT writes, leaving rivals TPG, Advent International and Warburg Pincus in the race to acquire the business, ambitiously priced at around 1.5 billion pounds.

The pursuit of Cadbury is rapidly becoming a one horse race after Italy’s Ferrero ruled itself out of the fight and cut off talks with potential bid partner Hershey, leaving only the U.S. chocolate maker to declare its hand in the battle for the British confectioner. Cadbury, meanwhile, yesterday put the finishing touches to its defence against U.S. food giant Kraft’s 10.5 billion pound hostile bid by promising an improved performance and a raised dividend.

Luxembourg-based investment firm Genii Capital intends to improve its bid for Swedish carmaker Saab in order to catch the eye of seller General Motors. Bids from Genii, which is working with Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone, and Dutch carmaker Spyker have failed to prevent GM from appointing advisers to oversee the wind-up of the business.

India telecoms group Bharti Airtel has created a new unit to pursue emerging markets acquisitions after failing to reach a deal with South Africa’s MTN last year.

Good thing for Saab that shutting down a car business is a lengthy process. There are orders to fill, inventories to clear and various other contracts to conclude. Bidders for Saab know this, so even as the deadlines come and go,  signs of life for a deal are going to have plenty of room to grow.

So now, even as General Motors starts turning off the lights, new bidders are emerging. Formula One motor racing boss Bernie Ecclestone (pictured left) has, according to the BBC, joined forces with Luxembourg-based private investment company Genii Capital to pitch a rival proposal, and of course Dutch luxury carmaker Spyker has come through with an improved bid for the struggling maker of the 9-3 and 9-5 sedans, as promised.

Swedish media reports on Friday named Jan Nygren, formerly a  Saab aerospace executive and senior defence ministry official, as the head of a group of Swedish investors submitting a last-minute bid for the ailing carmaker. Nygren confirmed the group’s interest but declined to give details.