Mondelēz International has $23bn offer for Hershey rejected

Mondelēz International has had an approach for Hershey emphatically rejected, according to media reports in the US.

It “offered nearly $23 billion in cash and stock”, The Washington Post reported, in a move that would have created an American confectionery giant. But Hershey’s board rejected the offer, adding that it “provided no basis for further discussion”.

Shares in Hershey were up almost 17% at the close of play on Thursday, reaching a market value of more than $24 billion, as speculation of a possible deal emerged.

The acquisition would, for the first time, have provided a significant footing in the US market for Mondelēz; Hershey is the country’s largest confectionery company, with $7.39 billion in sales, more than $500 million profit and a workforce of over 19,000 people.

The value of the deal would have been far greater than the amount Kraft Foods, at the time Mondelēz’s parent company, paid for British chocolate company Cadbury in 2010. That acquisition was completed for $16.2 billion – almost $7 billion less than Mondelēz’s unsuccessful bid for Hershey.