The residents of Hershey, PA, can breathe a sigh a relief today, as Mondelez — the owner of Nabisco and Cadbury — announced it would ditch its months-long bid to purchase the Hershey’s brand following several rebuffed offers by the chocolate giant.
Mondelez has thrown in the towel after Hershey rejected its latest offer, declaring there was “no actionable path forward” to buy the chocolate brand.
“As the world’s leading snacking company, we remain focused on successfully executing our strategy to deliver both sustainable top-line growth and significant margin expansion and are well-positioned to continue to deliver value to our shareholders,” Chairman and CEO Irene Rosenfeld said in a statement.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the timing just wasn’t right for the two companies to combine, as the Hershey Trust, which controls 81% of Hershey’s shareholder votes, is undergoing an overhaul of its own.
The Hershey Trust has historically resisted any sale offers.
“While we are disappointed in this outcome, we remain disciplined in our approach to creating value, including through acquisitions, and confident that our advantaged platform positions us well for top-tier performance over the long-term,” Rosenfeld said, being careful not to shut the door on a future deal.
Mondelez first approached Hershey about a deal in June, offering $23 million. The company said it was “prepared to go to lengths” to win over America’s most famous chocolate brand, including pledges to protect jobs, relocate to Hershey, PA, and rename the whole company Hershey, according to a source.
Hershey, however, wasn’t feeling the love, and outright rejected the offer. Mondelez came back with a $25 billion bid. But again it was rebuffed.
Mondelez reportedly offered a final, unspecified bid last week, that was also rejected.
by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist
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