ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, September 2, 1994                   TAG: 9409020097
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: CHICAGO                                 LENGTH: Short

2 CANDY MAKERS AGREE TO MERGE

In a merger of two old-line family candy manufacturers, the E.J. Brach Corp. agreed Thursday to acquire the Brock Candy Co. for $20 a share in cash, or $157 million.

The companies plan to form a new company, Brach & Brock Confections Inc., which they expect will be better positioned to withstand the intrusion of chocolate candy manufacturers, such as Hershey Foods and M&M Mars, into the hard and soft candy lines that Brock and Brach make.

Shares of Brock, which traded near $9.75 as recently as Monday, had soared on takeover speculation. Brock shares rose $6.5625 Thursday, to close at $19.375, a new 52-week high, in Nasdaq trading.

The 51 percent jump in Brock's stock price could be a signal that another bidder may emerge, analysts said. RJR Nabisco and Hershey were mentioned by some analysts as possible bidders for Brock, which is based in Chattanooga, Tenn.

- The New York Times 


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