Cadbury turned up the heat in its defense against a takeover bid from Kraft on Saturday as its Chairman Roger Carr said it was an unappealing prospect being absorbed into Kraft's low growth conglomerate business model.

In the letter to Kraft's Chairman and CEO Irene Rosenfeld, Carr reaffirmed the British confectionery group's rejection of Kraft's bid, initially valued at 10.2 billion pounds ($17 billion), saying it fundamentally undervalues Cadbury.

Under your proposal, Cadbury would be absorbed into Kraft's low growth, conglomerate business model, an unappealing prospect which contrasts sharply with our strategy to be a pure play confectionery company, Carr said in the letter.

We are committed to the delivery of optimum value to our shareholders and our board remains convinced that this is achieved through continuing to deliver our standalone pure play confectionery strategy, Carr added. (Reporting by David Jones; editing by Andy Bruce)

Cadbury United kingdom