Kraft retreated from its takeover bid for Unilever this week, after the fellow multinational demonstrated strong resistance to the buyout.
Reuters reported that the $US143 billion bid from Kraft, backed by Warren Buffet and private equity firm 3G, was viewed as a hostile takeover.
Unilever chief executive Paul Polman was said to have dismissed the offer as having no financial or strategic merit, and that he refused to enter into negotiations.
Trading for Unilever slumped after Kraft retreated along with its offer, down by close to nine per cent in the overnight session, before closing down 6.9 per cent lower than opening.
It is understood Kraft withdrew the offer once it saw that negotiations would be too difficult, and now commentators suggest that Kraft may shift its sights elsewhere, looking to continue plans to build what was described by Reuters as a “consumer goods behemoth”.
World-renowned trader Warren Buffett and 3G own 51 per cent of Kraft, and recently helped to back the Anheuser-Busch InBev takeover of SABMiller for 79 million pounds.