American chocolate and confectionary giant Hershey is looking to join hands with Italian Ferrero to prepare a joint bid for the Cadbury takeover, an idea over which both the parties are currently in talks. Senior Executives of both firms have been in discussions for weeks, but still have to decide on an offer.

The move has followed last week's approach by Kraft, American food giant, of a hostile ?9.8 Billion bid. After Cadbury rejected its takeover attempt in September, citing under-valuation of the company among other reasons, Kraft directly approached the British company's investors.

According to Cadbury Chairman Roger Carr, the bid was "derisory", and was not "remotely close to reflecting the true value of the company". Kraft stuck to its ground saying that the offer is "fair and attractive".

With Kraft's chances dimming, Hershey and Ferrero might make the most of the situation. It has been reported that the talk between the companies are currently in preliminary stages and the financial specifications have not been finalized yet.

None of the parties involved have commented so far.