The board of Hershey Foods is proposing alternatives to divestiture of the trust's controlling stake in the company. So far, no alternative has been accepted by the Trust.
According to a statement, issued by Vowler in response to inquiries, the trust holds about one-third of the equity and about three quarters of the voting power in Hershey Foods. The value of the trust's Hershey stock represents about 50% of the Trust's total assets.
Hershey Trust is the trustee and only benefactor of the Milton Hershey School, which is its sole beneficiary. The sale of Hershey Foods is described as a way for the trust to "comply with its fiduciary responsibilities to diversify and protect" the future of the school, according to Vowler's statement.
Founded in Hershey, PA in 1909 by Milton and Catherine Hershey, the school is a 1,400-acre, pre-K through 12, residential campus and center for training, housing, counseling and otherwise nurturing children in financial and social need. Currently 1,300 children are enrolled for free and live in 97 residences on the campus.
On his wife's death in 1915, Hershey donated his entire estate to the trust, a gift valued at $5 billion in today's dollars.
On word of the potential sale of Hershey Foods, Wall Street analysts began publicly placing a value of between $13 billion and $15 billion on the company, noting that its sale would certainly rival, and possibly exceed Kraft's December 2000 purchase of Nabisco for $14.91 billion in the largest food-industry sale to date. Kraft and Nestle are seen as potential buyers of Hershey.
Word of a possible sale also drove Hershey Foods stock up $15.28 a share, propelling it to a new 52-week high.
The trust has retained Morgan Stanley as financial advisor and the New York law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom as legal advisor.
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.
Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
