(adds 3M, Lonestar, Toyota, Anglo American, Sky, Rocket
Internet, Eurasia Drilling)
March 16 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers,
acquisitions and disposals were reported by 1320 GMT on
Thursday:
** 3M Co said it would buy Johnson Control
International Plc's safety gear business, Scott Safety,
in deal with an enterprise value of $2 billion.
** U.S. private equity firm Lone Star is closer to taking
control of Portugal's Novo Banco with an offer to inject up to 1
billion euros ($1.07 billion) into the bank in return for a 75
percent stake, sources told Reuters.
** Japanese carmaker Toyota said it plans to invest
240 million pounds ($294 million) to upgrade its car plant in
central England for futureoutput, but retaining tariff-free
access to EU markets after Brexit remained crucial.
** The British government said it would refer Rupert
Murdoch's planned takeover of European pay-TV group Sky
to regulators to decide if the deal was in the public interest.
** Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal said he was buying a 2
billion pound ($2.45 billion) stake in Anglo American,
sending the global miner's shares sharply higher and signaling a
possible return to large-scale dealmaking in the sector.
** Qatar's sovereign wealth fund has taken a stake in Rocket
Internet's recipe and ingredients business HelloFresh
as part of a previously announced fundraising, the German
company said.
** State-backed Russian Direct Investment Fund is
potentially interested in acquiring a stake in Eurasia Drilling
Co, the fund's head Kirill Dmitriev said.
** Virtu Financial Inc has made a bid to buy rival
trading firm KCG Holdings Inc that could help Virtu
bolster its businesses that have softened under reduced market
volatility.
** Hong Kong's Chow Tai Fook Enterprises said it had agreed
to purchase Australian gas and electricity retailer Alinta
Energy, in a deal two sources familiar with the matter said was
valued at about A$4 billion ($3 billion).
** Italy's biggest insurer Generali played down
the prospects of a takeover as it reported its highest ever
full-year operating profit and said it would raise dividends and
speed up cost cuts.
** Saudi Arabia's King Salman oversaw the signing of deals
worth potentially $65 billion as he began a visit to Beijing on
Thursday, as the world's largest oil producer looks to cement
ties with the world's second-largest economy.
** Japan's Daishi Bank and Hokuetsu Bank
are in the final stages of agreeing to integrate operations,
public broadcaster NHK said, in another move that would
consolidate regional lenders as the nation's population shrinks.
** German utility EnBW said it struck a deal to
buy a 6.28 percent stake in local peer MVV Energie
from French energy group Engie, which is worth 91
million euros ($97 million) based on MVV's current market value.
** Hedge fund investor Rainer-Marc Frey has built a 7.5
percent stake in Swiss derivatives specialist Leonteq,
the company said.
** The acquisition of Indian refiner Essar Oil,
led by Russian oil company Rosneft, is set to be
completed "in the nearest future, this month", VTB Chief
Executive Andrei Kostin told Reuters.
** Brazilian mining company Vale SA said on
Wednesday it is nearing conclusion of a deal to sell a stake in
Mozambique's Moatize coal project to Japan's Mitsui & Co Ltd
.
** Starboard Value LP, the activist hedge fund that had
pressured Macy's Inc to separate its real estate from its
retail business, has sold its stake in the U.S. department store
operator, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.
(Compiled by Ahmed Farhatha in Bengaluru)