According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, snack-food giant Mondelez International Co. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) has made an offer to purchase Hershey Co. (NYSE:HSY) , which skyrocketed shares of the company Thursday. HSY rose more than 21% Thursday morning, before setting a little over 15% around 12 PM ET.
Apparently talks between the two have been occurring for a few months now, as Mondelez has been trying to convince Hershey of the takeover. Mondelez reportedly has assured Hershey that in the event of a merger, the company would protect the jobs of Hershey’s employees, as well as be willing to move its chocolate headquarters to Hershey, Pennsylvania, and rename the company Hershey.
Mondolez reportedly offered Hershey a deal of $107 per share in a deal comprised of cash and stock. Any potential deal is subject to approval from the Hershey Trust, holders of 81% of its votes, which has been opposed to selling in the past.
Hershey has a market cap of $21 billion, and Mondolez is worth almost $70 billion. Shares of Hershey are up around 25% year-to-date, and the company has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Shares of Mondelez are down just over 2% this year, and the snack-food producer is a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) as well.
News of the potential buyout sent several other food stocks up on Thursday, with Kellogg (NYSE:K) , Campbell Soup (NYSE:CPB) , General Mills (NYSE:GIS) , and Pepsi Co. (NYSE:PEP) all seeing their shares spike at least 2%.
PEPSICO INC (PEP): Free Stock Analysis Report
HERSHEY CO/THE (HSY): Free Stock Analysis Report
GENL MILLS (GIS): Free Stock Analysis Report
CAMPBELL SOUP (CPB): Free Stock Analysis Report
KELLOGG CO (K): Free Stock Analysis Report
MONDELEZ INTL (MDLZ): Free Stock Analysis Report
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