In the wake of the did-they-or-didn't-they-offer-six-billion week of news stories about Groupon and Google, Andrew Mason took to the airwaves of NBC's Today Show to talk about...nothing, really. Matt Lauer sat Mason down and everything started fine, with Lauer discussing the site's operation, and he managed to get an answer about Groupon users. Then things got a little weird. more ›

Last night Groupon rejected Google's $6 billion offer to buy the Chicago-based deal a day company. Groupon CEO Andrew Mason wouldn't comment on the news, which had been a cause for speculation all week. more ›

Yesterday, word spread that United Airlines jilted U.S. Airways and started shacking up with Continental Airlines in merger talks again. And according to Crain's, they're close to a deal that would make "the world's largest airline." And the Tribune is reporting that the new airline would call Chicago its home. Which makes sense considering the big wad of cash Mayor Daley used to woo United into the city in spite of the airline's objection to the current O'Hare expansion project. Of course, the two airlines have tangoed before with nothing coming to pass so we'll just play the old wait-and-see game this time around. more ›

British candy maker Cadbury agreed in principle to a $19.5 billion offer from Kraft Foods. The news comes two weeks after Kraft sold its frozen pizza business to Nestle and proposed the authorizing of up to 370 million shares of stock to sweeten an offer Cadbury previously called "derisory." more ›

Kraft Foods feels they strengthened their ongoing bid to purchase the English confectioner Cadbury today by selling their pizza business to Nestle. The sale effectively rules out Nestle as a competing bidder for Cadbury while also adding more on-hand cash to Kraft's estimated $16.4 billion offer to buy the company, making Kraft the overwhelming front runner. more ›

Last night the Tribune broke the story of Binny's Beverage Depot agreeing to buy Sam's Wine and Spirits for an undisclosed sum. We can't say that this wasn't unexpected. Our most recent visits to Sam's have been funereal, if not downright depressing. It also ends with a whimper the aggressive competition between the two big-box liquor wholesalers that was waged for almost six decades. more ›

The Tribune is reporting that Binny's Beverage Depot has agreed to buy Sam's Wine and Spirits for an undisclosed sum. We'll have more on this tomorrow. [Chicago Breaking News] more ›