Kraft Foods has gone hostile in its bid to buy Cadbury but didn’t sweeten its first bid, drawing an immediate rejection from the British candy maker in what is likely to be a lengthy takeover struggle. Taking the same offer directly to Cadbury shareholders likely means that Kraft is betting no competing bids will emerge for the maker of Dairy Milk and Creme Eggs. The early gambit also leaves the company room to take the bid higher.

First Market Bank, a private chain of banks mostly owned by the Ukrop family and Ukrop’s Super Markets Inc., is moving toward its merger later this year with Bowling Green-based Union Bankshares Corp. “There are a zillion reasons why a bank sells out,“ said Kent Engelke, chief economic strategist at Capitol Securities Management in Richmond.

Hoover & Strong Inc., a Chesterfield County-based supplier of specialty manufactured metals to jewelry retailers, has merged with a manufacturer. The company closed a deal on June 5 with Keystone Findings Inc., a Telford, Pa.-based maker of mountings, wedding bands, earrings, pendants and other products. The merger gives Hoover & Strong additional market share and product lines, said Torry Hoover, president of the 96-year-old company, which has had a presence in the Richmond area since 1979.

Henrico County-based ClearPoint Credit Counseling Solutions is expanding into California. The nonprofit is merging with ByDesign Financial Services, a nonprofit based in Los Angeles that offers budget, credit, foreclosure and identity-theft counseling to English, Spanish and Hmong-speaking clients. The combined organization will go by the name ClearPoint Credit Counseling Solutions and the headquarters will remain in Henrico County, media relations coordinator Bruce McClary said.

Eastern Virginia Bankshares Inc. of Tappahannock and Glen Allen-based First Capital Bancorp Inc. said yesterday that they plan to merge. The combined company would create the second-largest community bank, by total assets, based in the Richmond area and one of the 10 largest in Virginia. It was the second Virginia bank combination announced this week. On Monday, First Market Bank in Richmond and Union Bankshares Corp. in Bowling Green announced a merger to create the state’s largest community bank.