Content area
Full Text
If the Hershey Trust Co. abandoned its potential sale of Hershey Foods Corp., it would not be the first time a wouldbe seller stopped short of a deal.
Local investment banker Ed Baer recalled one business owner who abandoned his sale plans after realizing he had no hobbies. The owner had already entertained an appealing bid.
"When a seller steps back and decides not to go through with a sale, it can be for many reasons," said Baer, a principal with the Marston Group, based in Lancaster. "It's possible, it's very possible, that they get close but don't go through with it."
On the other hand, the Hershey Trust may see a bid that surpasses its original expectations, he said. "They'd be, in some respects, foolish to turn it down."
Based in Derry Township, Dauphin County, the trust holds more than half its assets in Hershey Foods stock and wants to diversify its portfolio. A sale may be one way to achieve that goal. The trust's holdings support the Milton Hershey School for disadvantaged children.
Robert Vowler, the trust's president and chief executive officer, said trust officials have no intention of...