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Nestle Said to Consider Options for Cadbury, May Challenge Kraft, Hershey Nestle SA is weighing options including a possible bid for Cadbury Plc that would challenge Kraft Foods Inc.’s offer and a potential move by Hershey Co., according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

British Would-Be Borrowers Resist Approved Bank Credit as Loan Demand Dips A year ago, as Britain’s property market began to collapse, housebuilder Persimmon Plc owed 960 million pounds ($1.6 billion). Today, Chief Financial Officer Michael Killoran has slashed that debt by 58 percent.

U.K. Companies Will Rely Less on Banks After Crisis, Business Lobby Says U.K. companies plan to rely less on banks for credit in favor of funding from bonds and equities, according to a survey for the Confederation of British Industry.

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Pakistanis Pay Economic Toll as Regrouping Taliban Threaten to Widen War Taliban fleeing a Pakistani offensive are regrouping in the country’s northwest, threatening to spread and prolong a conflict that has strained the nation’s economy and may hamper efforts to attract foreign investment.

Playboy Wants Partners to Make Brand Bigger Over Next Decade, Hefner Says Playboy Enterprises Inc. needs to make strategic decisions to expand the men’s magazine publisher in the coming decade, according to former Chief Executive Officer Christie Hefner.

Kindle, Sony Electronic Readers May Get Biggest Payoff From Textbook Sale As Sony Corp.’s e-book devices vie with the Kindle to win over readers, the real showdown may come later: when a shift to electronic textbooks at schools threatens to eclipse the current market for the products.

Murdoch Targets Sulzberger as Newspaper Ad Slump Shifts Fight to Readers The New York Times and Wall Street Journal are pursuing readers from regional U.S. newspapers in their fight to survive the worst advertising declines in the industry’s history.

Cadbury's Carr Stared Down Goldman and RWE as Preparation for Kraft Duel Roger Carr, Cadbury Plc’s chairman, once thwarted Goldman Sachs Group Inc., then led by former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, from bidding for pub chain Mitchells & Butlers Plc in 2006.

China Banks Filling Syndicated Loan Void as Royal Bank, Citigroup Retreat Foster’s Group Ltd., Australia’s biggest brewer, never borrowed from China until this year, when Bank of China Ltd. helped arrange $500 million in loans to refinance debt.