(Adds Hamleys, KeyCorp (N:KEY), Safran and others; updates Pfizer ,
Vivacom, Telecom Italia )
Oct 29 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions
and disposals were reported by 2000 GMT on Thursday:
** Botox maker Allergan (N:AGN_pa) Plc AGN.N and Pfizer Inc (N:PFE) PFE.N
said on Thursday that they were in early, friendly talks to
create the world's largest drugmaker, a deal that would
potentially set up Pfizer to take advantage of Ireland's lower
tax rates. ID:nL3N12T51K
** MGM Resorts International MGM.N , under pressure from a
shareholder, said it would form a publicly traded real estate
investment trust comprising 10 of its properties. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N12T4HD
** Chinese footwear retailer C.banner International Holdings
1028.HK said on Thursday it would buy iconic British toy store
chain Hamleys for 100 million pounds ($153 million) in cash.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N12T5Q7
** Cleveland-based KeyCorp KEY.N is in advanced talks to
buy Buffalo-based First Niagara Financial Group Inc FNFG.O ,
according to sources familiar with the matter, the latest
example of a consolidation push among regional U.S. banks.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N12T5SJ
** French aerospace and defense group Safran SAF.PA is
considering a potential sale of its Morpho Detection unit, four
sources told Reuters on Thursday, triggered by an unsolicited
approach from an industrial player. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N12T4T9
** The Hungarian government said it raised around 75 billion
forints ($265 million) on Thursday from the sale of its 5
percent stake in the country's biggest lender OTP Bank
OTPB.BU , confirming an earlier Reuters report. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N12T3JG
** Italy's energy authority has valued high-voltage power
line assets belonging to the Italian railways, which power grid
company Terna TRN.MI is in talks to buy, at 674 million euros.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nI6N12R000
** Megafon MFONq.L MFON.MM , Russia's second-biggest
mobile network operator, plans to put its 14,000 masts across
Russia into a wholly owned subsidiary with a view to selling it
off, the company said. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N12T270
** Brazilian telecommunications company Oi SA's OIBR3.SA
board of directors approved a proposal by investment firm
LetterOne Group to inject up to $4 billion in the company if it
merges with rival TIM Participações SA TIMP3.SA , a Brazilian
newspaper reported. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N12T1QA
** A deal to sell Bulgaria's leading telecoms operator
Vivacom is likely to be concluded next month, sources familiar
with the process said on Thursday. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N12T3VO
** Canada's Bombardier Inc BBDb.TO said the Quebec
government will invest $1 billion in its struggling C Series jet
program. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N12T3Z5
** Telecoms tycoon Xavier Niel has become the second-largest
shareholder in Telecom Italia TLIT.MI behind Vincent Bollore's
Vivendi VIV.PA , giving two French billionaires sway over the
future of Italy's biggest carrier. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N12T3GZ
** France's largest dairy cooperative Sodiaal and
Cooperative Laitiere de Haute-Normandie (CLHN) said they were
considering a merger, a move which comes at a time when farmers
are struggling with falling prices and oversupply. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N12T2S8
** Australia's Qube Holdings Ltd QUB.AX , a logistics
services provider, has taken a near 20 percent stake in freight
firm Asciano Ltd AIO.AX , potentially blocking a bid from a
large Canadian rival, a source familiar with the transaction
said. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N12T2O7
** Conglomerate Lotte Group will acquire Samsung (KS:005930) Group's
SAGR.UL chemical businesses for more than 3 trillion won
($2.63 billion), South Korea's Korea Economic Daily reported on
Thursday, citing unnamed sources. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N12T3R7
** Health Insurer UnitedHealth Group Inc (N:UNH) UNH.N is nearing
a deal to buy Helios for more than $1.6 billion, according to a
source familiar with the matter. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N12S3XF
** Australian casino company Crown Resorts Ltd CWN.AX said
it has bought a fifth of Nobu, valuing the high-end restaurant
and hotel chain part-owned by movie star Robert De Niro at half
a billion dollars. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N12T270
** Two influential U.S. senators called for close scrutiny
of Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc's WBA.O plan to buy Rite Aid
Corp RAD.N for $9.4 billion, a deal that would unite two of
the three biggest U.S. drugstore chains. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N12S3VA
** Korea Development Bank (KDB), the main creditor of
troubled Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co Ltd
042660.KS , said it wants to sell its controlling stake in
Daewoo as soon as possible. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N12T1N6
** Foreign companies are in talks to buy a stake of up to 24
percent in the Bina refinery in India's Madhya Pradesh state
which is jointly owned by Bharat Petroleum Corp BPCL.NS and
Oman's state oil firm, BPCL's chairman told Reuters.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N12T29I
** European private equity house PAI Partners is working
with Credit Suisse CSGN.VX to sell French bottle-top maker
Global Closure Systems, a business it has held for a decade,
three sources said. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N12S5HR
** The head of National Australia Bank's (NAB) NAB.AX
British arm, Clydesdale, said it could be a takeover target or
lead consolidation among UK "challenger" banks after it is
separated and floated in four months. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N12S5NW
** Brookfield Property Partners LP said it sold a 44 percent
stake in its $4.5 billion development on Manhattan's west side
to the Qatar Investment Authority in a project it said would be
worth almost double that when completed. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N12S2UM
** Merging video game providers Ubisoft UBIP.PA and
Gameloft GLFT.PA is not on the agenda, Yves Guillemot, head
and co-founder of Ubisoft told Les Echos newspaper. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nFWN12S04V
** Consolidation in Poland's power industry is unavoidable
as the country needs stronger companies to compete in a wider
European market, the chief executive of Poland's third-biggest
power producer Enea ENAE.WA was quoted as saying. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N12T1P1
** The private equity arm of the Ontario Municipal Employees
Retirement System (OMERS) is mulling a potential sale of
Marketwired LP, a company that distributes press releases,
according to people familiar with the matter. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N12S357