Ferrero International Officially Drops Out Of Cadbury Takeover Battle

Italy's Ferrero International SA has officially declared itself out of the takeover battle for U.K. candymaker Cadbury PLC (NYSE: CBY).

Ferrero made the announcement on the deadline for companies to submit firm offers. Following last week's announcement by the Hershey Co. (NYSE: HSY) that it would not make an offer for Cadbury and the Cadbury board's decision to accept an offer from Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE: KFT), the Ferrero announcement should end any speculation of another company topping Kraft's offer for Cadbury.

Without any rival bidders, Kraft has until February 2nd to gain the approval of Cadbury's shareholders.