Australian Panel Opposes Coke-Cadbury Deal

Australia’s antitrust regulator said it opposes the deal between Coca-Cola Co. and Cadbury Schweppes, posing yet another stumbling block for the global ambitions of the two soft drink giants. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission ruled that revised terms of the companies’ planned asset swap and sale remain unacceptable, that they would reduce rather than increase competition in Australia’s soft drink market. “The whole deal worldwide is starting to look shaky, with a whole rash of countries across Europe objecting,” one industry analyst said. Atlanta-based Coke said it will review its options for Australia. In NYSE trading, Coke stock closed unchanged at $67.75, and U.S. shares of London-based Cadbury fell 19 cents to close at $28.63.