in danone, the family agnelli, turin-italy, has a decisive stake. you may know who they are and to whom they are connceted.
kissinger is one of their counsellors and often to find in turin.

gigi

: "...conservatives drink Pepsi and the radicals drink Coke
: -- and you can be shot for drinking the wrong cola in the
: wrong place at the wrong time."

: MORE ON THE COLA WARS -- COKE AND PEPSI SPAR FOR QUAKER OATS

: Coca-Cola, Quaker Break Off Talks.htm

: I am having a problem signing on to the Forum today, so if you
: would please consider the following article where Coke

: approached quaker to sabotage pepsi's talks with quaker,
: then ends up not buying quaker.... french company got
: quaker... looks like faction 1 is gloating of their victory
: in the globalization of the food industry, impacting health
: and safety.

: ..--Data Junkie

: ###

: France's DaNone interested in Quaker Oats, but Pepsi remains
: in shadows -

: http://cnnfn.cnn.com/2000/11/22/deals/coke/

: Quaker's future unclear
: With Pepsi in shadows, French food company Danone mulls bid
: for cereal maker
: November 22, 2000: 12:16 p.m. ET

: NEW YORK (CNNfn) - The ongoing courtship of cereal and sports
: drink company Quaker Oats brought yet another leading
: suitor in France's Groupe Danone Wednesday, although
: analysts and investors still clearly viewed PepsiCo Inc. as
: the most likely potential acquirer.

: Shares of Quaker Oats (OAT: Research, Estimates) tumbled $7.13
: to $87.31 in midday trading Wednesday, as investors
: digested the Coca-Cola Co.'s decision late Tuesday to
: abandon its efforts to acquire the maker of Rice-A-Roni,
: Captain Crunch cereal and Gatorade sports drinks.

: The decline reversed a nearly three-week run-up in Quaker
: Oats' stock, driven first by a $13.7 billion bid from Pepsi
: and then a more than $14 billion proposal from Coke.

: The revolving door continued Wednesday as Paris-based Danone
: (PBN) released a statement saying in light of Coke's
: decision not to formally bid, "it was reviewing the
: situation at Quaker."

: The news hit Danone's stock in Paris, sending the shares down
: 10 percent to 145, while its American depositary receipts
: (ADRs) fell $2.69 to $24.71 in early trading on the New
: York Stock Exchange on fears that the company might enter a
: deal that would hurt its earnings.

: Analysts have questioned whether Danone (DA: Research,
: Estimates) could afford a takeover of such a size. In a
: conference call with analysts Wednesday, Danone warned it
: would pay for any acquisition with shares and that a deal
: would not boost earnings per share before 2003.

: "There's a big question on price and uncertainty as to
: what Danone will offer," said Sylvain Massot, an
: analyst with Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. "The company
: can offer less and less as its share falls and there was a
: big fall today."

: Analysts also seemed skeptical as to whether Quaker Oats
: shareholders would be open to receiving French stock in
: exchange for their current holdings, suggesting instead
: that any deal with Danone would require a sizable cash
: component.

: "I just think Quaker shareholders would not be overly
: thrilled by getting Danone stock," said Bill
: Pecoriello, a beverage analyst with Sanford Bernstein.

: "As long as there was a collar on Danone's stock, I'd
: take it," said John McMillan, a food industry analyst
: with Prudential Securities. "But Quaker started with
: Pepsi and it might end with Pepsi."

: Pepsi buzz sizzles again

: Indeed, Purchase, N.Y.-based Pepsi, the world's No. 2 soft
: drink company, was still largely viewed as the most likely
: bidder for Quaker Oats Wednesday.

: Pepsi walked away from merger negotiations with Quaker Oats
: earlier this month, leaving a nearly $14 billion stock-swap
: offer on the table. The negotiations reportedly fell apart
: after Quaker Oats insisted that a "collar," or
: price protection mechanism meant to safeguard the company
: being acquired against sudden downturns in the acquiring
: company's stock, be included in any agreement.

: Interestingly, by the time Coke decided to walk away late
: Tuesday, there was only a small difference between the
: reported value of the Pepsi and Coke offerings, with Pepsi
: valuing Quaker Oats shares $102.30 each with Coke's valuing
: each share at $104.98.

: I think Pepsi is in a great situation. Pepsi could get this
: done at $90 per share now and really generate some
: shareholder value.
: Bill Pecoriello
: Analyst, Sanford Bernstein

: Now, analysts said, Pepsi is in an attractive position because
: it is the strongest bidder remaining, and may even be able
: to lower its initial offer.

: "I think Pepsi is in a great situation," Pecoriello
: said. "Pepsi could get this done at $90 per share now
: and really generate some shareholder value."

: Investors seemed to think the same, sending Pepsi's (PEP:
: Research, Estimates) stock down $2.50 to $44 in mid-day
: trading as investors braced for another large Quaker Oats
: bid. Coke (KO: Research, Estimates), meanwhile, rose $3.81
: to $59.06.

: Still, analysts aren't convinced Quaker Oats would agree to a
: lower bid, particularly after rejecting Pepsi's initial
: overtures.

: "Everybody knew Coke was the one that could pay the most
: if they wanted to," said John O'Neil, a food industry
: analyst with UBS Warburg. "Now, this puts the company
: back to where it was three weeks ago before the Pepsi bid.
: It clearly can remain an independent company if it wants
: to. They are not cornered at all."

: A large mouthful for Danone

: As for Danone, buying Quaker would be quite a mouthful for the
: French food conglomerate. The U.S. firm has a market value
: of $12.6 billion, while Danone's capitalization is about
: $20 billion.

: Danone, the world leader in dairy products and the
: second-biggest bottled water producer, has been looking to
: expand in the United States after losing to Philip Morris
: Cos. (MO: Research, Estimates) in the bidding war for
: Nabisco Group Holdings.

: Quaker's cereals business, which makes Captain Crunch and Life
: cereal, would complement Danone's increasing focus on
: breakfast foods, while the U.S.'s best-selling sports
: drink, Gatorade, would slot in well with Danone's bottled
: water business, analysts said.

: The French company, which owns the Evian mineral water brand,
: Jacob's snacks, LU cookies and HP sauce, has been selling
: grocery products and brewing activities to concentrate on
: beverages, dairy foods and cookies. In March, Danone sold
: its Kronenbourg beer unit to British brewer Scottish &
: Newcastle PLC (SCTN) for $2.7 billion.

: "An agreement with Quaker could be consistent with Danone
: Group's stated strategy to create shareholder value through
: developing a world leader in focused, growth-oriented,
: healthy nutrition and beverage business," the company
: said in a statement.

: Still, analysts said the company could easily renounce its
: intention to submit an acquisition offer should the price
: drift to high or its stock price too low.

: "Danone can walk away from this any time it likes,"
: said Massot. "It's not dependent on this deal."

: Coke sticking with current strategy

: Atlanta-based Coke, the world's No. 1 soft drink company, said
: in a brief statement late Tuesday that it would not be
: pursuing a transaction with Quaker Oats. The company did
: not provide a reason for its decision, saying only that it
: was "enthusiastic" about its current strategic
: course under new Chief Executive Douglas Daft.

: The decision came after a lengthy board meeting meant to
: discuss joining the two companies in a merger valued by
: some published reports at upwards of $14 billion. Coke
: confirmed late Monday that it had entered discussions with
: Quaker but would not pursue a deal.

: Quaker Oats is considered valuable mainly for its Gatorade
: brand, where sales have been growing about 10 percent a
: year.

: Coke and Pepsi are locked in a fierce battle to expand their
: non-carbonated beverage drinks as soft drink sales continue
: to slow, particularly in the United States.

: Pepsi scored the latest victory in that battle last month when
: it acquired the South Beach Beverage Co. But industry
: analysts view Gatorade as the ultimate prize, particularly
: given the high-growth prospects of the sports drink
: industry, where Gatorade dominates.

: Gatorade holds about a 73 percent market share in the U.S.
: sports drink category when all sales channels are included.
: Coke's Powerade ranks second with an 11 percent stake,
: according to figures compiled by Beverage Digest.

: LINKS TO SOME RUMOR MILL NEWS ARTICLES ON THE COLA WARS

: "...conservatives drink Pepsi and the radicals drink Coke
: -- and you can be shot for drinking the wrong cola in the
: wrong place at the wrong time"

: http://www.rumormillnews.net/cgi-bin/config.pl?read=1284

: http://www.rumormillnews.net/cgi-bin/config.pl?read=3210