AFP US industrial snacks giant Mondelez International said Monday it had dropped plans to merge with chocolatier The Hershey Company. The announcement came nearly two months after Hershey, the maker of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Hershey’s Kisses, rejected a $23 billion takeover offer from Mondelez. “Following additional discussions, and taking into account recent shareholder developments at Hershey, we …

  AFP Internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom was on Tuesday granted his wish to live-stream his bid to avoid extradition to the United States where he is wanted on online piracy charges. Attempts by the United States to block the live-streaming request were rejected by Judge Murray Gilbert in the Auckland High Court. Lawyers for the US argued live-streaming could pollute …

  Bloomberg Banco Santander SA, Spain’s biggest bank, hired Morgan Stanley as an adviser to help it buy Citigroup Inc.’s retail assets in Brazil for $350 million to $450 million, according to three people with knowledge of the matter. Santander, whose Brazil unit generates about 19 percent of the Madrid-based company’s revenue, also is working with Credit Suisse Group AG, …