BEIRUT / Reuters Lebanon’s government has prequalified eight more companies to bid for its first round of offshore exploration and production licences after prequalifying 46 companies in 2013, Energy and Water Minister Cesar Abou Khalil said on Wednesday. The bidding process for offshore blocks 1, 4, 8, 9 and 10, was postponed for years because of political paralysis in …

  Bloomberg Lotte Group plans to divide four key businesses valued at about $12 billion into operating and holding units, slashing the number of cross shareholdings to 18 from 67 and allowing its chairman to tighten his grip on a hotels-to-retail conglomerate rocked by a years-long family feud and a corruption trial. Lotte Confectionery Co. will absorb the investment companies …

  Bloomberg Netflix Inc. agreed to provide television series to China-based iQiyi.com, the streaming-video service controlled by Baidu Inc., gaining access to the only major film market that had eluded the world’s largest paid video service. The licensing deal covers television dramas, animated series, documentaries and variety shows, iQiyi said in an emailed statement on Wednesday. Popular Netflix original content …