US conglomerate Kraft Foods has confirmed it is finalising a deal to take over the chocolate maker Cadbury, bringing the four-month battle between the two companies to a close.

Tullow Oil, the FTSE 100 oil exploration and production group headquartered in London, is seeking to take full control of two oil fields it discovered in Uganda with partner Heritage Oil.

Hershey is likely to make a bid of roughly $18 billion for the UK confectioner Cadbury, it has been reported.  According to the Wall Street Journal, Hershey is putting the finishing touches on a financial package that is based on a loan of approximately $10 billion from banks including JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.  The WSJ also says the offer is likely to include $5 billion in new Hershey shares and at least $3 billion from private investors.

Royal Dutch Shell and MalaysiaÔÇÖs state-owned oil company Petronas have signed a contract to develop IraqÔÇÖs Majnoon oilfield.

Japanese cosmetics giant Shiseido has announced it will buy San Francisco-based cosmetics company Bare Escentuals for $1.7 billion.

Car sales in Europe rose by 16 per cent in December, an indication that the sector is making a gradual recovery after a challenging year.

Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Microsoft have announced they will spend $250 million over three years to simplify servers and cloud computing for business customers.

KenyaÔÇÖs government has announced it will sell stakes in five sugar companies in order to boost competitiveness and meet free trade requirements.

Internet search giant Google has said it will review its operations in China following a series of assaults by hackers on its computer systems.  The move, if followed through, would be a highly unusual rebuke of China by one of the largest technology companies in the world. Google launched its operations in China in 2006, keen to amass market share in a country with 350 million web users.

The Italian chocolate maker Ferrero has decided to withdraw from discussions with the US confectionary company Hershey over a joint bid for Cadbury, it has been reported.