Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions

(Adds General Cable, Dragon Oil, Petrobras, Nordzucker; Updates Lafarge, Boskalis, RSA, Couche-Tard) March 17 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 2000 GMT on Tuesday: ** Macerich Co, the third-largest U.S. shopping mall owner, rejected a $14.39 billion unsolicited offer from larger rival Simon Property Group Inc, saying the offer "substantially undervalues" the company. ** Canadian convenience store operator Alimentation Couche-Tard said it would acquire the retail, commercial fuel and aviation businesses of Royal Dutch Shell in Denmark to expand its presence in Scandinavia. ** European Union antitrust regulators have extended their deadline for a decision on General Electric's 12.4 billion euro ($13.15 billion) bid for Alstom's power equipment business after a request from the U.S. group. ** BHP Billiton said a proposed $13 billion spinoff of South32 would give the world's biggest miner a strong chance to ride out tough conditions in commodity markets and was a more attractive option than an asset sale. BHP released documents on Tuesday setting out the conditions for the split of its core iron ore, petroleum, copper and coal businesses from its unloved assets which will form South32, ahead of a planned listing in May. ** Italian cable maker Prysmian is evaluating all growth opportunities, but there are no talks ongoing with its smaller rival General Cable, the company's spokesman said. The comments came after a Bloomberg report which said Prysmian had held preliminary talks with advisers about buying General Cable. ** State-controlled Petróleo Brasileiro SA has hired Itaú BBA SA to handle the sale of gasoline stations and assets in the natural gas distribution sector, as the company seeks to raise $13.7 billion from the disposal of non-core assets, a source with knowledge of the matter said. ** The Italian government said on Tuesday it had no plans to sell a stake in oil major Eni, after a junior minister indicated the government planned to divest part of its holding. ** Germany's Merck KGaA placed a $4 billion bond with institutional investors to help fund its $17 billion acquisition of U.S. lab supplies company Sigma-Aldrich. ** Russia's Alfa Telecom offered $2.8 billion on Tuesday to buy back a 13.8 percent stake in Turkcell, a move that would give billionaire Mikhail Fridman's group control of Turkey's top mobile operator. ** Britain's OneSavings Bank Plc said it was open to takeover offers and expected more consolidation among smaller banks after more than doubling its annual profit. ** The boards of Lafarge and Holcim met separately on Tuesday to try and salvage their merger to create the world's biggest cement firm, two sources said. Holcim called a halt to the deal on Monday, pressing for the price and management structure to be changed from the original "marriage of equals", which named Lafarge boss Bruno Lafont as chief executive of a combined company. ** Buyout firm Apollo Global Management LLC is in advanced talks to acquire most of the assets of Digital First Media, publisher of the Denver Post and San Jose Mercury News, for around $400 million, according to people familiar with the matter. ** U.S. arms maker Raytheon Co is in talks to buy network-security company Websense Inc, owned by private equity firm Vista Equity Partners LLC, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. ** Chinese conglomerate Fosun International Ltd is considering a bid for Cushman & Wakefield Inc, the world's third-largest real estate company, Bloomberg reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. ** Singapore Airlines Ltd is in talks to buy a stake in South Korea's largest low-cost carrier Jeju Air Co Ltd, a deal that would be the flag carrier's first foray into North Asia where rising demand from Chinese passengers is fuelling growth. ** Germany's second-biggest utility RWE has bought a minority stake in solar group Conergy, hoping to expand its foothold in the embattled solar industry after having missed the trend for years. ** National CineMedia Inc and Screenvision LLC said on Monday that they had decided to scrap plans to merge after the U.S. government sued to block the $375 million deal. ** Anglo American and other companies looking to sell some of their mining assets in South Africa should sell to national champions, or companies owned by local communities and by their workers, South Africa's mining minister said on Monday. ** Austrian property group CA Immo and Russian investor Boris Mints' O1 Group unveiled a 2.80 euro per share bid for a minority stake in Austrian peer Immofinanz AG , moving ahead with an offer that Immofinanz has shunned. CA Immo and O1 Group are not at this stage planning a full takeover of or considering a merger with Immofinanz, CA Immo Chief Executive Bruno Ettenauer said. ** British general insurer RSA is weighing a possible sale of its Latin American business, a source familiar with the matter said, in what would be the group's biggest in a long-running series of disposals. ** Albania wants to try again to privatise its state oil company this year, and will soon begin offering its blocks for oil and gas exploration, Prime Minister Edi Rama said. ** Bloomberry Resorts Corp said it would buy an island and a casino operator in South Korea, deals aimed at expanding outside its Philippines home base. ** British newspaper publisher Trinity Mirror could bid for the Daily Express and Daily Star titles after it said on Tuesday that it was examining certain assets owned by Richard Desmond's Northern & Shell group. ** Orange Chief Executive Stephane Richard sought to put to bed the idea that the French group was interested in a deal with Telecom Italia, only weeks after he told media that it would be an interesting consolidation opportunity. ** France's Orange plans to take more time to review options for selling a stake in video sharing site Dailymotion, denying media reports that it was to enter exclusive talks with Asia's PCCW. ** A Dutch court rejected a bid by Dutch marine engineer Boskalis to have a shareholder vote on anti-takeover protections in place at smaller rival Fugro, in which it holds a 20 percent stake. ** Dragon Oil Plc said it had been approached by Dubai's Emirates National Oil Co Ltd LLC (ENOC), its largest shareholder, about a possible offer for its shares ENOC did not already own. ** Germany's second-largest sugar refiner Nordzucker plans to acquire a 25 percent stake in the sugar trading unit of August Toepfer, one of the country's leading sugar exporters. ($1 = 0.95 euros) ($1 = 1,130.31 won) ($1 = 121.29 yen) (Compiled by Yashaswini Swamynathan and Natalie Grover in Bengaluru)