Thirteen suitors for US food firm

Rivals are competing for Nabisco's winning brands

Competition to buy US food maker Nabisco is heating up now that French food and water company Danone has joined the battlefield.

The company joins another 12 prospective bidders for the New Jersey-based company, which is known for its Oreo biscuits and Grey Poupon mustard.

"We can confirm that we have been having preliminary discussions with Nabisco. We are studying the dossier, and many different scenarios are possible," a Danone spokeswoman said.

Financier Carl Icahn is bidding $6.5bn, or $22 a share, to buy the remaining 90.4% of the company he does not own. He recently raised his offer from $16.

Bid price expected to rise

But reports that Nabisco rival, Kraft Food, and confectionery and soft drinks company, Cadbury Schweppes, are also bidding for the company is likely to push the price much higher, analysts said.

Aggressive bidding from Kraft could push the price as high as $25 a share.

"We continue to believe that Kraft is the most likely winner if this sale goes through," said David Nelson, analyst at Credit Suisse First Boston.

Nabisco began accepting bids last month in an auction style process after rejecting an offer from financier Icahn.

Speculation has been rife since then about who the potential bidders could be.

Unilever trying for Bestfoods

The growing battle for Nabisco comes as another US food maker, Bestfoods, the maker of Knorr soups and Hellmann's mayonnaise, tries to fend off a takeover bid from Anglo-Dutch consumer goods company, Unilever.

Bestfoods has rejected Unilever's $18.4bn takeover bid, saying it was financially inadequate and has been talking to other potential partners, but says it is not for sale.

Unilever, which makes Lipton Tea and Calvin Klein fragrances among other things, said that it was ready to wait for Bestfoods to consider its alternatives.

"We're patient. We're relaxed. We know the value of the business to us. We're quite relaxed about them taking a bit more time," said Unilever chairman Niall Fitzgerald.

He said Unilever was attracted to Bestfoods' growing brand portfolio, adding that the company was complementary in its product range, geography and in its culture.