Mondelez Drops Plans to Acquire Hershey

Mondelēz International Inc. has ended discussions with The Hershey Co. regarding a possible combination of the two companies.

"As the world's leading snacking company, we remain focused on successfully executing our strategy to deliver both sustainable top-line growth and significant margin expansion and are well-positioned to continue to deliver value to our shareholders," said Chairman and CEO Irene Rosenfeld. "Our proposal to acquire Hershey reflected our conviction that combining our two iconic American companies would create an industry leader with global scale in snacking and confectionery and a strong portfolio of complementary brands. Following additional discussions and taking into account recent shareholder developments at Hershey," Rosenfeld continued, "we determined that there is no actionable path forward toward an agreement. While we are disappointed in this outcome, we remain disciplined in our approach to creating value, including through acquisitions, and confident that our advantaged platform positions us well for top-tier performance over the long term."

Executives from Mondelēz International, including EVP/CFO Brian Gladden, EVP, Integrated Supply Chain Daniel Myers and EVP/Chief Growth Officer Tim Cofer, will present at the Barclays Global Consumer Staples Conference on Wednesday, Sept. 7. A live audio webcast of the presentation will be available here while an archive of the webcast will be available on the company's website.  Mondelēz will also be live tweeting the event at www.twitter.com/MDLZ.