Mondelez approached Hershey to explore takeover, Bloomberg says

Mondelez (MDLZ) has made a preliminary approach to Hershey (HSY) about a possible combination, Crystal Tse, Aaron Kirchfeld, Vinicy Chan and Dinesh Nair of Bloomberg report, citing people familiar with the matter. This is not the first time Mondelez has sought a deal for Hershey, according to Bloomberg. In 2016, it walked away from discussions about a potential takeover after seeing a $23B bid rejected, Bloomberg adds. Deliberations are in the early stages and there’s no certainty that discussions will lead to a deal, the sources said. Any deal would require the backing of Hershey Trust Co., which owns almost all of Hershey Co.’s class B stock, giving it roughly 80% of the voting power at the company, Bloomberg points out. Shares of Hershey are up 6%, or $9.90, to $184.60 following the report while Mondelez is down 3% to $61.18.