Reclusive Ferrero has the financial wherewithal

Italian group may not be glamourous but it has annual revenue of €6.2bn and net profit of €371m

• Local connections key for Hershey
• European View: Ferrero boys should stay cool on Cadbury

Lex: Morrison

The pace of like-for-like sales growth at the retailer slowed from 7 per cent to 4.3 per cent in the third quarter. How will Morrison regain its growth?

Blackstone set to buy Birds Eye for $1.3bn

Blackstone is set to buy Birds Eye Foods in a $1.3bn deal that will see the US frozen food group merge with the private equity group’s Pinnacle Foods

UK and Australian Birds Eyes unscathed

Blackstone may be scooping up Birds Eye Foods in the US but there are separate businesses in the UK and Australia holding the same name that will remain unscathed

Fishermen urge EU to end dumping

Scottish fishermen are offering to change the way they fish to persuade the European Union to relax rules that require them to throw large amounts of high-quality fish back in the sea if their catchincludes species not allowed under quotas

British drinkers console SABMiller

Emerging markets fail to compensate for decline in beer sales in the developed world for world’s second-largest brewer, but UK bucks the trend

Highland Spring buys Greencore’s water arm

The Scottish company has agreed to acquire the bottled water division of the Dublin-based group for up to £17.5m

Lex: SABMiller

The brewer’s compelling geographic reach across emerging and developed markets saved it from the toughest economic conditions for decades