Kraft Foods and H.J. Heinz, two processed foods giants, recently welcomed a merger backed by 3G, a Brazilian private equity firm, and Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway, in the largest deal of 2015 thus far. By acquiring Kraft, worth $36 billion before the deal, 3G Capital adds yet another company to a recent line of acquisitions of North American food companies including Heinz, Budweiser, Burger King and Tim Hortons.

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Commerzbank has agreed to pay $1.45 billion to settle several U.S. investigations that tracked a trail of illicit money to the German bank. The settlement was reached on March 12.

The first aspect of the case concerned the bank’s dealings with Iranian and Sudanese companies blacklisted in the United States. Authorities determined that the bank transferred at least $263 million through the U.S. financial system on behalf of these companies between 2002 and 2008. In addition, the bank attempted to disguise the source of the funds by deleting data from wire transfers. The Frankfurt branch had been hiding information relating to these practices from its New York branch which, according to investigators, was possible due to “ineffective” internal controls in New York.

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On March 3, 2015, Refresco Gerber, one of Europe’s largest soft drink and fruit juice bottlers, announced a plan to debut its initial public offering on the Amsterdam-based Euronext exchange.

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