Mondelēz drops Hershey bid
Mondelēz International has abandoned its takeover bid for confectionery The Hershey Company, but said it will continue to execute plans to deliver sustainable growth.
In a statement, Mondelēz chairman and CEO Irene Rosenfeld said the company “remains 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”.
She added, “Our proposal to acquire Hershey reflected our conviction that combining our two iconic American companies would create an industry leader with global scale in snacking and confectionery and a strong portfolio of complementary brands.”
But following additional discussions, and taking into account recent shareholder developments at Hershey, Mondelēz concluded that there is no actionable path forward toward an agreement.
“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 noted.
Hershey “unanimously rejected” Mondelēz’s takeover bid of $107 a share last month, adding that its board and management team are “committed to enhancing value for all stockholders in accordance with the company’s strategic plan”.
The deal would have merged brands including Hershey, Reese’s, Brookside, Cadbury, Oreo and Trident under one roof.
Jack Skelly, confectionery analyst at Euromonitor International, previously said the move would have made sense for both companies, “given the synergies in their focus on high growth, highly profitable snacks, their drive to improve efficiencies and their geographically complementary nature”.
