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Hershey Media Report 7/26/16

    Local Coverage

  1. AG reaches settlement with Hershey Trust, will announce soon

    Jul 26, 2016 | WITF

    By Katie Meyer

    The state Attorney General's office has reached a preliminary settlement with powerful multi-billion dollar foundation, the Hershey Trust. The office said an official announcement on the settlement could possibly come this week.

    2. Trade Coverage

  2. Hershey Trust Reaches Tentative Deal on Governance Reform

    Jul 26, 2016 | Philanthropy News Digest

    The Hershey Trust, chocolate maker Hershey Co.'s largest shareholder, has reached a tentative agreement with the Pennsylvania attorney general's office to reform its governance practices, the Wall Street Journal reports.
  3. M&A Daily

    Jul 26, 2016 | Seeking Alpha

    By Chris DeMuth Jr.

    The settlement with the OAG was mentioned in Seeking Alpha's M&A Daily, a daily column on new deal announcements and developments.

    4. Full Text of Stories Below

    Local Coverage

  1. AG reaches settlement with Hershey Trust, will announce soon

    Jul 26, 2016 | WITF

    By Katie Meyer

    (Harrisburg) -- The state Attorney General's office has reached a preliminary settlement with powerful multi-billion dollar foundation, the Hershey Trust.

    The office said an official announcement on the settlement could possibly come this week.

    The trust is the largest shareholder in the Hershey Company.

    It owns the Hershey Entertainment & Resorts Company and manages more than 12 billion dollars in funds for the Milton Hershey School, which serves underprivileged children.

    The investigation stemmed from alleged conflicts of interests for board members, and overcompensation.

    Attorney General spokesman Jeffrey Johnson declined to offer specific information on the results of the investigation, saying only that "an agreement has been reached in principal, but nothing has been finalized at this point."

    Johnson did acknowledge, however, that this isn't the first time the Hershey Trust has faced an investigation by the AG's office.

    "One division of our office is tasked with the essential mission of making sure that charitable assets are being used appropriately," he said. "And we've worked with the Hershey Trust in the past, so this is a continuation of those efforts."

    In 2011, for instance, the office examined why the trust spent 17 million dollars on a golf course and clubhouse.

    The trust is supposed to only use its money to benefit the students who attend the Milton Hershey School.

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    2. Trade Coverage

  2. Hershey Trust Reaches Tentative Deal on Governance Reform

    Jul 26, 2016 | Philanthropy News Digest

    The Hershey Trust, chocolate maker Hershey Co.'s largest shareholder, has reached a tentative agreement with the Pennsylvania attorney general's office to reform its governance practices, theWall Street Journal reports.

    The $12 billion trust, which also runs the Milton Hershey School, a cost-free, private coeducational school for low-income students, has been under investigation by the attorney general's office over allegations of excessive compensation, lavish expenses, and conflicts of interest among board members. According to the Journal, the trust and the AG's office are in the process of drafting a legal document outlining the terms of the agreement, which includes new term limits and enforcement of a compensation cap for board members, as well as the resignations of some board members at the end of the year. Four board members of the trust have resigned over the past several months.

    Industry experts told the Journal that the changes and the prospect of an almost entirely new board at the trust in 2017 could give potential bidders an opening to try to buy Hershey. With a roughly 30 percent stake in the company and 81 percent of the voting shares, the trust will play a key role in any future sale of the company. Recently, Hershey's corporate board, which includes three members of the trust's board, unanimously rejected a $23 billion bid from Mondelez International, and any future offers would require the approval of the trust as well as the attorney general's office. According to some experts, a sale of the company could benefit the Milton Hershey School by diversifying the trust's assets and generating higher returns on its stake in the company.

    "We have reached an agreement in principle and are working on the final details in productive discussions with the office of the attorney general," a spokesperson for the trust said in an e-mailed statement.

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  3. M&A Daily

    Jul 26, 2016 | Seeking Alpha

    By Chris DeMuth Jr.

    Hershey Trust reached an agreement with the Pennsylvania attorney general. The settlement will lead to resignations.

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    4. Full Text of Stories Below

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