COMPANIES The charitable trust that controls Hershey has encouraged the US confectioner’s management to pursue a $17bn bid for British chocolate-maker Cadbury, topping Kraft Foods’ hostile $16.2bn offer.
While a formal bid is not believed to be imminent, Hershey is weighing a transaction that would include a combination of stock, debt and a multibillion-dollar contribution from deep-pocketed investors such as pension funds, people familiar with the matter said.
