The Hershey Company announced it will acquire Chinese candy maker Shanghai Golden Monkey Foods for $498 million. The confectioner will also assume $86 million in debt. Hershey subsidy Hershey Netherlands B.V. will acquire 80 percent of Golden Monkey's stock by mid-2014 and the rest in 2015. Golden Monkey's five production sites are expected to generate $225 million in revenue this year.

"Shanghai Golden Monkey is the type of business we've been focused on for potential M&A," says a statement from Hershey International president Humberto P. Alfonso. "It fits Hershey's acquisition criteria: it is located in our primary international market, China; it is a pure play confectionery and snacks company; and it has distribution into channels where Hershey products have yet to penetrate.