Hershey Co. (HSY:NYSE) shares jumped 15 percent on media reports that the chocolate company had received a takeover bid from its rival Mondelez International (MDLZ:NASDAQ). However, Hershey’s board unanimously rejected the offer and determined that “it provided no basis for further discussion.”
Mondelez, the maker of Oreo cookies and Cadbury chocolate bars, offered $107 per share for Hershey in a 50 percent cash and a 50 percent stock deal. This implies a valuation of $23 billion for Hershey, the maker of famous Kisses and Reese’s chocolate bars.
Mondelez is the world’s no.2 candy maker with $14.4 billion sales in 2015, second after Mars Inc. with $18.5 billion sales. The merger with Hershey, which is the sixth largest candy maker in the world, would make Mondelez the market leader.
