Hershey replaces 8 directors in shake-up

Chocolate maker Hershey Co. said Sunday that it had replaced eight members of its board of directors, the latest management shake-up in the weeks since the surprise retirement of Chairman and Chief Executive Richard Lenny.

Hershey, maker of Hershey’s Kisses and Reese’s Pieces, said its new board members included Stone Point Capital Chief Executive Charles Davis, a veteran of Goldman, Sachs & Co, where he was head of investment banking services; and Edward Kelly, managing director of private equity firm Carlyle Group.

Six of Hershey’s independent directors quit at the request of the Hershey Trust, the controlling shareholder that has recently said it was not happy with the company’s performance. Two directors elected separately by shareholders also resigned.

Hershey has struggled in the last two years with rising costs and stiff competition from M&M;’s maker Masterfoods USA, a unit of private Mars Inc.

The company added that Kenneth Wolfe would serve as nonexecutive chairman of the board, effective Jan. 1. Wolfe served for eight years as chairman and CEO of Hershey, retiring at the end of 2001.

On Oct. 1, Hershey, which last month reported a 66% decline in quarterly profit, said Lenny would retire at the end of the year. One day later, Chief Operating Officer David West was named the next CEO.

Lenny had differences with the trust and could not run the business with the autonomy he wanted, according to a report last month in the Wall Street Journal.

The trust, established by Hershey founder Milton Hershey to serve as trustee for the boarding school that bears his name, controls about 78% of the voting shares at Hershey.

Among the board members who resigned was Robert Campbell, who had been designated to become nonexecutive chairman on Jan. 1.

Hershey shares closed unchanged Friday at $41.04. .