Hershey and Cadbury Deal

Sunday, August 16th, 2009

Hershey family trust controls 80% of Pennsylvania chocolatier voting stake.  The biggest obstacle is that they wouldn’t likely agree to a deal with Cadbury because they wouldn’t want to dilute their stake significantly.  Kraft bid $16.73 billion for Cadbury, and there’s a wave of speculation out there that says Hershey will counter that with a higher offer.

According to an analyst from Stifel Nicholaus, Christopher Growe, “We believe that this transaction should be roughly 65% equity and financed at 12x EBITDA multiple to trump the proposed offer of Kraft.”  However, this high stock component may threaten Hershey’s trust control.

When Cadbury and Hershey discussed a 2008 possible merger, the trust balked.  There’s no reason to think that a lot has changed after a year.  Growe divulged that when Hershey’s former CEO, Rick Lenny, approached Cadbury with this combination, it led to his company exit.  Also, the trust has substantial control over the board of the company.  Recently, there were two board members who resigned due to new risk committee installation that oversees most of Hershey operations.

Hershey may offer more cash instead of stock to avoid this dilution issue.  But where would they find that cash?  The company has an $8.8 billion market value compared to Kraft which has a market value of $39.2 billion.

Tags: analyst, Cadbury, Christopher Growe, equity, Family Trust, Hershey, Kraft, merger, Pennsylvania, Rick Lenny, Stifel Nicholaus
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Estate Plan for Faraway Real Estate

Saturday, August 1st, 2009

Do you have a condo in a ski country?  Maybe you have a house at any shore or a Florida time share?  So how much real estate do you have in several states?

No matter where your real estate is, your properties will be involved in your estate settlement unless you make some arrangements to your estate plan and avoid this complication.  Real estate law is a state law.  This means that only the courts in a particular state can have the authority in resolving issues about ownership and title of real estate property in that state.

So if you’re a Pennsylvania resident and you own a Florida condo, your estate settlement will require Pennsylvania domiciliary probate and a Florida ancillary probate when you pass away.  Take note that ancillary probate is always required in each state wherever you own real property.

The simplest way to eliminate the probate proceedings requirement is to title the real estate in joint names of your intended beneficiaries (probably with your spouse and children).  This is a simple device which means that in the event of your death, the real property will automatically pass to the joint owners without any probate proceeding requirement.

Tags: beneficiaries, courts, Estate Planning, Florida, owners, Pennsylvania, probate proceedings, real estate
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DUI Laws Blog is open!

Wednesday, August 6th, 2008

This blog will feature DUI laws in all 50 states of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia*, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming

Tags: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia*, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming
Posted in Uncategorized, dui attorney, dui california, dui florida, dui illinois, dui laws, dui lawyers, dui new jersey, dui oregon | No Comments »