HERSHEY CREAMERY COM USD0.01 : Hershey's non-exec chairman resigns

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Hershey Co said on Monday its nonexecutive chairman resigned from the company's board of directors following a request from the chocolate-maker's controlling shareholder.

Hershey said Kenneth Wolfe's resignation was effective immediately. Wolfe, who had served as the company's chairman and chief executive officer from 1994 to 2001, had served as nonexecutive chairman since November 2007.

The company said Wolfe resigned following a request from the Hershey Trust Co, trustee of the Milton Hershey School Trust, the company's controlling stockholder, that he not stand for re-election at the company's annual meeting of stockholders on April 30.

The Trust indicated that it wanted to have one of its representatives on the board serve as chairman. As a result, the board unanimously elected James Nevels to succeed Wolfe as nonexecutive Chairman of the Board of Directors.

(Reporting by Jessica Hall; Editing by Christian Wiessner)

(For more M&A news and our DealZone blog, go to http://www.reuters.com/investing/news/mergers)