Shares in UK confectionery firm Cadbury soared by nearly 40 percent yesterday on the news that it had rejected Northfield, Illinois-based KraftÔÇÖs $16.7 billion bid for the firm.  It is now thought that rivals Nestl├® and Hershey could form a consortium and submit their own bid, which would avoid regulatory complications arising from a straight Nestl├®/Cadbury, or Hershey/Cadbury, takeover.  Combined, Nestl├® and Cadbury would control more than half the chocolate market in the UK.

T-Mobile UK and OrangeÔÇöthe┬áUK mobile phone operations of Deutsche Telecom and┬áFrance TelecomÔÇöare to merge, creating the UKÔÇÖs biggest mobile phone firm.

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New car sales in the UK rose in August for the second successive month, helped by the scrappage scheme.
 

In a  move to create "a global powerhouse in snacks, confectionery and quick meals," Kraft Foods, the world's second-largest food maker with annual revenues of $42 billion, has offered to buy UK confectionery company Cadbury for £10.2 billion ($16.7 billion).
 

Financial services giant Credit Suisse is in talks with Chicago-based Mesirow Financial Holdings about buying its hedge fund business for $11 billion.  Zurich, Switzerland-based Credit Suisse, which manages around $15 billion under its own hedge fund unit, is seeking to purchase MesirowÔÇÖs Advanced Strategies division, which places client money in hedge funds.  It currently has around $11 billion in assets. The Chicago-based firm also has holdings in real estate, private equity funds and commodities. The hedge fund unit makes up around a third of its total assets.

Financial services giant Credit Suisse is in talks with Chicago, US-based Mesirow Financial Holdings about buying its hedge fund business for $11 billion (Ôé¼7 billion).

GermanyÔÇÖs Deutsche Telekom is in talks with UK-based Vodafone, France Telecom and SpainÔÇÖs Telefonica about selling its UK unit, T-Mobile, the UKÔÇÖs Financial Times reported.

UK-based energy group BP has discovered a major new oilfield in the Gulf of Mexico.

UK-based energy group BP has discovered a major new oilfield in the Gulf of Mexico.