One of the first major stories I covered as a young business journalist was Nestle's hostile takeover of Rowntree. The bid was bitterly contested with much nationalist outrage about Polos and Smarties falling into foreign hands. Times have changed. We now live in a world where Rolls-Royce, the Mini, Manchester United and a host of other "British to the core" brands are foreign owned. It has lost the power to shock.

Even so, there is something so fundamental to our self image about the Cadbury brands that I can feel a tumult of nostalgic breast beating coming on already. How can Americans understand and respect the role that guilty pleasures such as Crunchie, Wispa, Turkish Delight, even the humble Freddo bar have played in all our lives. And not just the products themselves. They are names that bind us in common experience: those toe curling but strangely thrilling "All because the lady loves..." Milk Tray ads; the fabulously kitsch "Full of Eastern Promise" campaign from Fry's Turkish Delight and more recently the brilliant drumming Gorilla for Dairy Milk.

The other strain of nostalgia that this bid will evoke is for the multi-billion pound contested takeover. Mouths will be slavering in the City and not just at the prospect of all those free Creme Eggs. There is nothing like a corporate ding-dong on this scale to send the fee meter whizzing round. With luck, it will run for months with the raiders from Kraft eventually seen off by Cadbury. By that time enough bonuses will be earned to keep the London property market going for another year. But more importantly the Curly Wurly will have been saved for the nation.