Aug 24 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 1000 GMT on Thursday:
** Saudi Aramco and Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) 2010.SE have launched bidding for engineering work on their joint crude oil to chemicals project, industry sources said, a key step towards developing the $20-billion-plus complex. A consortium that includes Western Digital WDC.O is offering 1.9 trillion yen ($17.4 billion) for Toshiba Corp's 6502.T memory chip business, which the Japanese conglomerate is trying to sell to cover losses from its U.S. nuclear business, sources said. Phoenix Group PHNX.L , Britain's largest owner of closed life assurance funds, is considering buying some of the bulk annuity portfolios that have come on the market in recent months, it said. Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co (MSI) is buying Singapore's First Capital Insurance for $1.6 billion from Canada's Fairfax Financial Holdings FFH.TO , in the biggest takeover by a Japanese insurer in populous Southeast Asia. Irish building materials firm CRH (LON:CRH) CRH.I has sold its U.S. distribution business to Beacon Roofing Supply Inc. BECN.O for $2.63 billion in cash and will use the proceeds to continue an acquisition spree elsewhere, it said. Chinese state-owned food group COFCO, which fully acquired Dutch-based grains trader Nidera in February after a three-year takeover, is considering a sale of Nidera's Latin American seeds business, according to people familiar with its plans. Russian bank Otkritie OFCB.MM has sold its 19.8-percent stake in Cyprus-based Russian Commercial Bank and will use the proceeds to fund the development of its retail business in Russia, Otkritie said. Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O on Wednesday cleared two of the biggest hurdles it needed to close its $13.7 billion acquisition of Whole Foods Market Inc WFM.O , with approvals from a U.S. regulator and the grocery chain's shareholders. Australia's antitrust regulator cleared a consortium led by News Corp NWSA.O Co-Chairman Lachlan Murdoch to buy free-to-air television broadcaster Ten Network Holdings Ltd TEN.AX , saying the move would not harm competition. Russian oil firm Rosneft ROSN.MM has struck deals with several buyers for almost its entire quota of Venezuelan crude for the remainder of the year, traders told Reuters on Wednesday, the first time it has conducted such a large sale of the OPEC member's oil. General Electric (NYSE:GE) Co GE.N has resumed negotiations to sell its industrial solutions business to Swiss engineering company ABB Ltd ABBN.S , after the U.S. industrial conglomerate moderated its price expectations, people familiar with the matter said. Hershey Trust Co, the charitable trust which controls chocolate maker Hershey Co HSY.N , said on Wednesday it would sell 4.5 million shares of Hershey's common stock. Cubic Telecom, a supplier of data connections for cars and other "internet of things" devices, said it has closed a new $46.5 million (39.4 million euros) funding round from investors including chipmaker Qualcomm QCOM.O and Audi's venture arm.