The question of who will buy
Hershey Foods
has finally been answered. No one.
Hershey Foods
After a lot of speculation and drama, the Pennsylvania-based chocolate maker announced it was informed last night by the Hershey Trust Co., as trustee for the Milton Hershey School, that the trust's board had voted to instruct the company to terminate the sale process that the company initiated at the direction of the trust.
The news took the obvious potential acquirers by surprise:
Nestlé
,
Kraft Foods
and
Cadbury Schweppes
, but also
William Wrigley Jr
, which reportedly offered $12.5 billion for the company.
The original move to put Hershey up for sale came after the trust announced its plans to diversify holdings but rejected management's proposed alternatives to a sale.
The prospect of a sale was met with a groundswell of opposition by employees, local businesses and politicians who feared Hershey would become just another piece of someone else's global empire.
In the end, Hershey will be Hershey and only the investment bankers will be poorer for that.