Posted on 09/17/2002 9:15:54 PM PDT by GeneD
Filed at 11:49 p.m. ET
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Board members of the charitable trust that controls Hershey Foods Corp. said late Tuesday they would not sell the nation's largest candy maker after rejecting all offers.
``The trust board has rejected all the bids that it received. It is asking the company to end the process of exploring the sale,'' Hershey Trust Co. spokesman Rick Kelly said, reading a statement from the trustees.
All 17 trustees met behind closed doors in a suburban Philadelphia hotel Tuesday to conduct regular board business and discuss the secretive process of seeking bids on its controlling stake in the company.
``This is the culmination of months and months of reviewing the diversification options,'' Kelly said.
The $5.9 billion trust, which controls 77 percent of the company's shareholder votes and 31 percent of its common stock, announced July 25 that it had ordered Hershey Foods executives to seek bids on its stake.
The trust said it was looking to protect its investments. More than half the trust's assets are invested in the stock, and board members say the trust could be hurt if the company's finances falter.
The potential sale, however, had sparked protests from the public and politicians, who said the interests of the community would be pushed aside in any sale. Critics said a sale would trigger plant closings and layoffs, eventually if not immediately.
A state judge granted an injunction on a sale, pending a Hershey Trust Co. appeal, and state Attorney General Mike Fisher had petitioned the judge to require the trust to seek court approval before it could sell the candy maker.
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