DealZone

“Britain’s takeover watchdog has unveiled proposals to make hostile bids harder but stopped short of endorsing the most radical proposals floated following the controversial takeover of Cadbury by Kraft Foods,” writes Quentin Webb. *View article

The Canadian province of Saskatchewan dismissed the idea that a hostile offer from BHP Billiton for Potash Corp would bring net benefits. *View article

“Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts is hiring part of Goldman Sachs Group Inc’s proprietary trading team, which is being shut down due to new restrictions on such trading,” write Steve Eder and Megan Davies. *View article

In other Goldman news, the company is considering paying back Berkshire Hathaway’s $5 billion investment, the WSJ reports. *View article

Fertilizer maker CF Industries gave rival Terra Industries an early anniversary present last night.

The company pulled its hostile bid for Terra on Thursday — on the eve of the one-year anniversary of its original bid, which was launched on January 15, 2009.

The withdrawal marks an end to one side of the three-way hostile takeover battle that some have called the “Fertilizer Wars.” Now, Agrium‘s hostile bid for CF Industries, and CF’s defense against that bid, takes center stage.

(Acquisitions Monthly) The past year has seen the return of the hostile bid approach, requiring advisers to deploy their full range of defensive skills to fend off such opportunistic offers, or force the bidders to raise their price.

Finding the right balance between those two goals can be notoriously tricky. In theory, National Express defended itself successfully from a series of approaches this year, initially from transport rival First Group then from private equity group CVC in conjunction with major shareholder the Cosmen family and latterly Stagecoach.

However, this victory looks Pyrrhic. The company’s share price is 25% below the high point it reached during the offer period. Added to that, the board also now faces a disgruntled shareholder base. Hedge funds are seeking quick profits while its largest investor is at strategic odds with the directors and unwilling to support a rights issue.

The year-long ban BHP Billiton has had on revisiting a takeover of rival miner Rio Tinto will soon end, but it seems as if the moment has passed. Liberum and Investec said earlier this week that most of the synergies were captured anyway by the duo’s iron-ore joint venture.  If regulators nix that deal, analysts say a full takeover could be back on — but how that would pass muster if a JV doesn’t is not clear. On Friday, Credit Suisse joined the chorus of disapproval, saying a takeover would cut BHP’s return on equity (ROE) in half. From the CS note:

“We have re-run the numbers on an all scrip BHP Billiton takeover of Rio Tinto at a 30% premium (2.3 BHP shares for each RIO share). We see such a deal as materially EPS dilutive (by 12% even after year 3) and would significantly decrease BHP’s return on equity (from 25% to 12%).

“We do not see BHP making another takeover offer for RIO because: (i) The iron ore JV should capture many of the synergy benefits expected from the possible merger. (ii) If the iron ore JV fails on account of not passing regulatory hurdles similarly then we do not see a takeover receiving regulatory passage. (iii) We do not foresee shareholder support for the deal (and any such deal would use BHP script) with the potential EPS dilution and ROE erosion significant. (iv) Non-availability of sufficient credit facilities.

The defining deals of the week, Kraft’s now officially hostile bid for Cadbury and a deal to sell a majority stake in NBC Universal to Comcast, hinge on decisions of Europe Inc, so they could well drag on many more weeks.

This morning, Kraft formally bid for Cadbury with the same offer mooted two months ago, before today’s put-up-or-shut-up deadline. Cadbury has already said no to these terms, and can be expected to do so again. But the sinking expectations that Kraft might pay more, and the lack of any other buyers coming forward, don’t help to make the case for a successful hold out by Cadbury executives.

Over the weekend we learned that GE and Comcast agreed on a valuation of around $30 billion for a joint venture between NBC Universal and Comcast, ironing out what has been a key obstacle in talks so far. But French media conglomerate Vivendi, which owns 20 percent of NBC Universal, has not yet agreed to a deal, a source said.

It looks like Kraft CEO Irene Rosenfeld is getting ready to play hardball with her reluctant target, British chocolate maker Cadbury.

Cadbury investor Mario Gabelli will be disappointed in the short term – he wanted a small kiss from Irene after all - but a formal offer from the North American food group sets in motion an 88-day process under UK takeover rules.

That should give Kraft plenty of time to sweeten its offer to something starting with an eight – the 800p per share bar regarded by many as the minimum price needed to tempt Cadbury to the negotiating table.