Hershey's controlling Trust has belatedly accepted that, without doing a deal, the chocolate company faces slow decline. That removes one obstacle to Hershey challenging Kraft in the battle for Cadbury.

Hershey will struggle to acquire a company twice its size. Given limited geographical overlap, moreover, synergies would probably be less than Kraft’s targeted $625m a year. A mooted $17bn offer, including $10bn cash, would leave combined Hershey- Cadbury with debt of five times earnings be...