Hershey Rejects Mondelez's $23 Bln Takeover Bid, Shares Jump

(RTTNews) - Snacks giant Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ) made a takeover bid of $23 billion to acquire chocolate behemoth Hershey Co. (HSY) that would create the world's largest chocolate company. Nevertheless, shares of Hershey jumped over 15 percent after the company revealed that it has rejected the offer.

"The board of directors of the company unanimously rejected the indication of interest and determined that it provided no basis for further discussion between Mondelez and the company," Hershey said in a statement.

Mondelez had offered to buy Hershey for $107 a share in a cash and stock deal.

Hershey has a market capitalization of $21 billion before the offer, while Mondelez had a $69 billion market value.

According to a WSJ report, any deal to materialize would require the backing from the Hershey Trust, which holds 8.4% of the company's common stock and 81% of its voting power. However, the trust seems to be against the idea of selling the company.

According to research firm Euromonitor, the merger between Mondelez and Hershey would create the world's biggest candy company, as it merges the second- and fifth-largest company in the industry by revenue.

MDLZ is currently trading at $45.55, up $2.58 or 6.00%, while HSY is trading at $113.96, up $16.82 or 17.32%.