Oreo cookie maker Mondelez abandons bid for Hershey

(Reuters) - Mondelez International Inc said it was "no longer pursuing" the acquisition of Hershey Co, a month after the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office unveiled the terms of a reform deal with the trust that controls Hershey.

Shares of Mondelez, the maker of Oreo cookies and Cadbury chocolates, rose nearly 4 percent in extended trading on Monday, while Hershey's shares plunged about 12 percent.

Hershey rejected a $23 billion cash-and-stock offer by Mondelez in June.

"Following additional discussions, and taking into account recent shareholder developments at Hershey, we determined that there is no actionable path forward toward an agreement," Mondelez Chief Executive Irene Rosenfeld said on Monday.

The reform agreement for Hershey Trust came after an investigation of several months by the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office over the charitable trust's governance, compensation and expenses.

The trust, set up by Hershey's eponymous founder a century ago, holds 81 percent of the company's voting stock and a sale is impossible without its approval.

"While we are disappointed in this outcome, we remain disciplined in our approach to creating value, including through acquisitions," Rosenfeld said on Monday.

(Corrects third paragraph to say Hershey rejected the offer in 'June', not 'July')

(Reporting by Gayathree Ganesan and Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Kirti Pandey)