Battle Between Hershey Trust and Pennsylvania Turns Bitter

Pennsylvania Attorney General Mike Fisher and the charitable trust that controls the giant Hershey Foods Corporation are fighting over the ramifications of the possible sale of the company.

Mr. Fisher has asked the state’s Orphans’ Court, which oversees charitable trusts, for a temporary restraining order to stop any sale of Hershey Foods by the Hershey Trust Company.

The trust company — whose beneficiary is the Milton Hershey School, a residential facility — recently announced that it was considering selling its stock in Hershey Foods to diversify its holdings.

In a statement, the attorney general’s office said that a sale of the controlling interests in Hershey Foods “could have profoundly negative consequences” for Hershey, Pa., and surrounding areas, including the loss of jobs, related businesses, and tax base.

Meanwhile, Mr. Fisher asked the Hershey Trust to delay accepting any offer of sale for the company until at least October, giving the courts and the state General Assembly time to consider the issues raised by the attorney general.

Questions Over Authority

Mr. Fisher’s court petition said that he had the right to intervene in the company sale because the duties of his office include protecting the public against any social and economic disadvantages that could result from the action of a charity.

In response, the Hershey Trust told the court that Mr. Fisher was acting outside his legal authority, and that his demands could severely undermine — or lead to the destruction of — the trust’s “auction process.”

What’s more, the Hershey Trust said, the attorney general’s requests would “irreparably harm the school and the trust company by eliminating their ability to determine what options exist.”