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Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions

(Adds Olam International, Viterra, Harris Associates, Syngenta, Bank Nizwa) Aug 27 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 2000 GMT on Thursday: ** Half a dozen groups of companies from four continents placed indicative bids by a Thursday deadline for an electricity transmitter in Australia's most populous state, a source told Reuters, a milestone in a record $12 billion privatization sale. ** China Cinda Asset Management Co Ltd has put in the sole bid for a small Hong Kong lender whose parent BOC Hong Kong Holdings Ltd wants to sell for $8.8 billion, a record amount for any Hong Kong bank acquisition. ** Singapore's Olam International Ltd said Japanese trading house Mitsubishi Corp would buy a 20 percent stake in the agri-trader, valuing it at about $5.5 billion. ** Nippon Life Insurance Co is in "serious" talks to buy National Australia Bank Ltd's insurance business in a deal that could be worth up to $2.5 billion, Japan's Yomiuri newspaper reported on Thursday. ** Medical technology company Greatbatch Inc said it would buy privately owned Lake Region Medical, formerly Accellent Inc, in a deal valued at about $1.73 billion in a "transformational" move to diversify its offerings to the medical device industry. ** Ireland's CRH bought U.S. glazing products manufacturer CR Laurence for $1.3 billion on Thursday and said this would be its last big acquisition for the next year or two. ** French oil major Total has agreed to sell some of its gas pipeline assets in the UK's North Sea to North Sea Midstream Partners, an affiliate of U.S.-based private equity firm ArcLight Capital, for 585 million pounds ($907 million). ** Chinese property and investment firm Dalian Wanda Group has bought World Triathlon Corp (WTC), the U.S. owner of the popular Ironman Triathlon franchise, for $650 million, the company said on Thursday. ** Pacific Equity Partners, Australia's No. 1 buyout firm, is in exclusive talks about a possible acquisition of New Zealand's largest university foundation training provider for about NZ$530 million ($342 million), a source told Reuters on Thursday. ** Viterra Inc, the agriculture segment of Glencore PLC, said on Thursday that it agreed to buy Eastern Canada's largest oilseed processing plant from Malaysia's Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd for C$190 million ($143.4 million). ** Global mining and trading firm Glencore Plc and Australia's Bloomfield Group agreed to acquire Vale's Integra coal mine in Australia for undisclosed terms, the buyers said in an emailed statement on Wednesday. ** Harris Associates has raised its stake in mining and commodity group Glencore Plc to more than 5 percent, the firm's international portfolio manager told Reuters, betting the battered shares are set for a rebound. ** Syngenta management faced pressure on Thursday to offer tangible rewards to shareholders after the Swiss pesticides company turned its back on a deal with unwanted American suitor Monsanto. ** Omani Islamic lender Bank Nizwa remains open to potential mergers or acquisitions, its CEO said on Thursday, despite withdrawing from a proposed tie-up with United Finance . ** Drugmaker Abbott Laboratories, knocking down a report in the Financial Times, denied on Thursday that it was preparing a bid for medical device maker St Jude Medical Inc . ** Chinese auto maker BAIC Motor is in talks with Daimler AG about taking a stake in the German luxury car maker, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Thursday. ** Novo Nordisk said on Thursday it has agreed to buy two private biopharmaceutical research companies specializing in diabetes Calibrium LLC and MB2 LLC. ** Goldcorp Inc and Teck Resources Ltd will form a joint venture to develop neighboring mines in Chile to cut costs as metal prices languish at multiyear lows, the Canadian miners said on Thursday. ** Bulgaria's energy regulator on Thursday approved the power purchasing agreement between U.S. power company ContourGlobal and the Balkan country's public power provider NEK. ** U.S. media group Scripps Networks Interactive bought nearly all remaining shares in Polish broadcaster TVN , planning to delist the company from the Warsaw bourse , a brokerage running the deal said on Thursday. ** Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings (Private) Ltd has partnered Asia-focused private equity firm MBK Partners to bid for the South Korea arm of British supermarket operator Tesco PLC, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters. ** Britain's Foresight Solar Fund Ltd has completed the acquisition of a 35 megawatt (MW) solar plant in Wiltshire, southwest England, taking the company's net portfolio of solar assets to 322 MW. ** Cellcom will review a possible purchase of rival Golan Telecom, Israel's largest mobile phone operator said on Thursday, indicating a sector that expanded in 2012 might be set for consolidation. ** Poland's second largest power producer Tauron said it was considering buying some of the assets of the troubled Brzeszcze mine but hurdles to a deal remained. ** Acer Inc founder Stan Shih said he would welcome a takeover of the struggling Taiwanese computer maker after a steep fall in its share price, while warning any potential buyer would pay a heavy price. ** Deutsche Annington Chief Executive Rolf Buch has sought to temper speculation that the German real estate group could make takeover bids for smaller rivals Deutsche Wohnen and LEG Immobilien. ** Singapore property developer Rowsley Ltd is paying 29 million pounds ($44.8 million) for a 75 percent stake in a soccer-themed hotel and restaurant business founded by former Manchester United players including Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville. ($1 = C$1.32) ($1 = 0.65) ($1 = 1.55 New Zealand dollars) (Compiled by Manish Parashar in Bengaluru)