(Adds AIG, Petroleo Brasileiro and RCS MediaGroup)
Jan 22 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions
and disposals were reported by 2100 GMT on Friday:
** American International Group Inc (N:AIG) AIG.N has decided to
pursue a spin-off of its mortgage insurance business, according
to people familiar with the matter, in a move that would come as
the U.S. insurer fends off activist Carl Icahn.
Brazil's state-led oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA
PETR4.SA is on the verge of selling its stake in Brazilian
petrochemical company Braskem SA BRKM5.SA and expects to
complete the sale by the end of June, a Petrobras source told
Reuters on Friday.
Italy's competition watchdog is checking whether Arnoldo
Mondadori's acquisition of rival RCS MediaGroup's book unit
would give the publisher controlled by the family of former
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi a dominant position on the
market.
Philips PHG.AS plan to shed its lighting businesses
suffered a setback on Friday when a $3.3 billion deal to offload
the components division to Asian buyers was blocked by the
United States on security grounds.
Swiss luxury group Richemont CFR.VX has bought the 40
percent of high-end watchmaker Roger Dubuis it did not already
own, with analysts forecasting more small manufacturers will be
snapped up by bigger rivals in an industry struggling with
weaker demand.
Oil producer Petroceltic's PCI.I PCI.L largest
shareholder Worldview Capital Management said it may make a cash
offer to buy out the remaining shares in the Irish company.
Barclays BARC.L is pressing ahead with the sale of its
Asian private wealth business and has picked Lazard LAZ.N to
help advise on the deal amid efforts to scale back its Asian
operations, three sources with knowledge of the matter said.
Investors are threatening not to fund a $2.75 billion
loan backing office supply retailer Staples' SPLS.O purchase of
rival Office Depot ODP.O after pricing moved against the deal,
which could delay the completion of an acquisition already
challenged by antitrust issues.
Thailand's largest private power producer, Ratchaburi
Electricity Generating Holding Pcl RATCH.BK , said it will
invest 7.5 billion baht ($208 million) over the next five years
in a nuclear power plant in China.
The majority shareholder of Malaysia's Shell (L:RDSa) Refining Co
SLRS.KL is considering selling its stake in the business, but
no agreement has yet been reached with any potential buyer.
Slovenia is seeking bids for the purchase of state-owned
metal products maker MLM d.d., according to an advertisement in
daily paper Finance on Friday.
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said on Friday he
expected merger activity among the country's cooperative banks
in the coming weeks.
The Russian government has approved the sale of a stake
in the Yamal LNG plant to China's Silk Road Fund in a deal which
should bring another $2 billion in investment for the project.
Illycaffe, the name of which is synonymous with Italian
espresso, is committed to staying independent even as
consolidation in the global coffee sector heats up after a
string of deals formed a new No. 1 player.
Australian markets operator ASX Ltd ASX.AX said on
Friday it had bought a minority stake in a U.S. blockchain
developer, positioning itself to become the first stock exchange
in the world to use distributed ledger technology for public
companies.
KKR & Co KKR.N said on Friday it had teamed up with a
large state-owned Chinese asset manager and a local investment
manager to co-invest in credit and distressed opportunities in
China.
International Business Machines (N:IBM) Corp IBM .N said on
Thursday it bought Ustream Inc, an online video streaming
service provider, to boost its cloud offerings for businesses.
Yahoo Inc YHOO.O will decide on its next strategic
steps only after releasing quarterly earnings on Feb. 2, people
familiar with the matter said, as the company continues to
resist investor calls to explore a sale of its core Internet
assets.