The Hershey Company says its wholly-owned subsidiary, Hershey Netherlands B.V., has signed an agreement to acquire 80% of Shanghai Golden Monkey Food Joint Stock Co., Ltd. (SGM), a privately held confectionery company based in Shanghai, China.
Completion of the agreement is expected to occur in the second quarter of 2014 and is subject to China regulatory and SGM shareholder approval.
Hershey has increased its investment in China over the past several years.
With this transaction, it intends to build on the success of SGM’s brands, diverse product portfolio, in-country manufacturing and growing sales force to accelerate its growth in China, enhance its ability to serve Chinese consumers, and provide increased opportunities for employees in the country.
At the same time, SGM will benefit from the scale and scope of Hershey to enable the sustainable, long-term development of SGM’s trusted brands.
Prior to this, Hershey opened its new Asia Innovation Center, located at the Jinqiao Research Park in the Pudong District of Shanghai in May 2013.
This is aimed at accelerating the company’s growth and enables its global capabilities to quickly develop and launch new products customized to the tastes of consumers in China and Asia.
