Sept 20 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 1400 GMT on Wednesday :
** Germany's Thyssenkrupp TKAG.DE and India's Tata Steel TISC.NS agreed on Wednesday to merge their European steel operations in a preliminary deal that would create the continent's No.2 steelmaker after ArcelorMittal MT.AS.
Japan's Toshiba Corp 6502.T agreed on Wednesday to sell its prized semiconductor business to a group led by U.S. private equity firm Bain Capital LP, a key step in keeping the struggling Japanese conglomerate listed on the Tokyo exchange.
U.S. private equity firm Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) is quitting its decade-long mining services play in Australia through the A$517 million ($414 million) sale of its controlling stake in the highly leveraged earth-moving equipment provider Coates Hire.
Southern Copper, one of the world's largest copper producers, is considering a bid to develop the Michiquillay project in Peru, at a time of strong prices that could rise further in 2019, Chief Executive Oscar Gonzalez said.
A plan to acquire Singapore's United Engineers Ltd UTES.SI by Yanlord Land Group YNLG.SI and Perennial Real Estate Holdings PERE.SI that valued the century-old property group and a stake in a subsidiary at $1.4 billion has failed on low shareholder acceptance.
A.P. Moller-Maersk MAERSKb.CO has agreed a $1.71 billion deal to sell its oil tanker division to its controlling shareholder, who in turn will enter an ownership consortium with Japan's Mitsui & Co 8031.T.
Luxottica LUX.MI and Essilor ESSI.PA have not offered any concessions to allay EU antitrust regulators' concerns over their proposed 46-billion-euro ($55.2 billion) merger, increasing the possibility of a lengthy EU investigation into the deal.
Finland's Fortum FORTUM.HE is in advanced talks to buy for 3.8 billion euros ($4.6 billion) German utility E.ON's EONGn.DE remaining stake in Uniper UN01.DE, the power stations and trading business which it spun off last year. German energy company Uniper UN01.DE , whose biggest shareholder is E.ON EONGn.DE, said it had not invited a bid by Finnish state-controlled peer Fortum FORTUM.HE.
Hong Kong-based insurer AIA Group Ltd 1299.HK is close to acquiring Commonwealth Bank of Australia's (CBA) CBA.AX insurance business which is likely to be valued at nearly $4 billion, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said.
Sika's SIK.S Chief Executive, Paul Schuler, wants to accelerate the Swiss industrial and construction chemicals maker's acquisition drive with more and bigger deals in the next 15 months.
Bally slot machines owner Scientific Games Corp SGMS.O said it would buy Canada's NYX Gaming Group Ltd NYX.V for about C$775 million ($632 million), including debt, expanding its existing digital gaming and online gambling portfolio.