The Hershey Trust -- which wanted to sell its majority ownership of Hershey Foods in order to diversify its portfolio, only to be change its mind amid a firestorm of political and local objections -- now has promised not to sell the company without advising the courts and the Pennsylvania state Attorney General’s office.
However, in advising Attorney General Mike Fisher (who was a prime opponent of the sale) of its decision, the trust’s board of directors then firmly knocked the ball onto Fisher’s side of the net.
“We look forward to your ideas and support for our diversification efforts," the board wrote, asking for his help in identifying strategies that might be acceptable to the public.
However, in advising Attorney General Mike Fisher (who was a prime opponent of the sale) of its decision, the trust’s board of directors then firmly knocked the ball onto Fisher’s side of the net.
“We look forward to your ideas and support for our diversification efforts," the board wrote, asking for his help in identifying strategies that might be acceptable to the public.
- KC's View:
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We suspect that Fisher ain’t gonna have any bright ideas on this one; good politics, in this case, requires the status quo.
But that may not be good for the trust. So we suspect that we’ll see this issue crop up again fairly soon…maybe when the trust has an ironclad deal with a company like Kraft to buy the company but leave its local interests intact.
