(Adds LafargeHolcim, Amaya; Updates National Bank of Egypt)
Feb 8 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions
and disposals were reported by 21:00 GMT on Monday:
** Apollo Education Group Inc APOL.O , the owner of the
University of Phoenix, said on Monday it would be taken private
by a consortium in a deal valued at $1.1 billion. Gold miner Tahoe Resources Inc TAHO.N THO.TO said it
would buy Canada's Lake Shore Gold Corp LSG.TO for about C$751
million ($540 million) to add low-cost mines in Ontario to its
portfolio. South Africa's Illovo Sugar ILVJ.J said on Monday it
has received a non-binding expression of interest from its
largest shareholder Associated British Foods ABF.L to acquire
the rest of the company's shares. Volkswagen AG's VOWG_p.DE trucks business is open to
acquisitions or even a public listing, VW trucks executive
Andreas Renschler told Bloomberg. EU antitrust regulators will decide by March 11 whether
to allow CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd 0001.HK and Vimpelcom
VIP.O to merge their Italian mobile operations, marking the
Hong Kong group's second European telecoms deal under EU review.
E-commerce firm Africa Internet Group and French insurer
AXA said on Monday they had formed a partnership in which AXA
will be the exclusive provider of insurance to AIG and invest 75
million euros ($84 million) to take a roughly 8 percent stake in
it. Greek-yogurt maker Chobani LLC, founded by billionaire
Hamdi Ulukaya, said on Friday it had rejected offers from
beverage giant PepsiCo (N:PEP) Inc PEP.N and other investors.
Investors in Big C BIGC.BK , one of Thailand's largest
supermarket chains, cheered on Monday an up to $3.5 billion deal
by France's Casino Group CASP.PA to sell its majority holding
to TCC Group, owned by whiskey tycoon Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi.
LafargeHolcim LHN.VX has received a revised order from
the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to divest its interest
in Lafarge (PA:LAFP) India, including three cement plants and two grinding
stations with total annual capacity of 11 million tons, it said.
Iran holds a stake in a refinery project in Malaysia and
is considering taking stakes in projects in five other
countries, the managing director of the National Iranian Oil
Engineering and Construction Company (NIOEC) was quoted as
saying on Monday. South Africa's Bidvest Group Ltd BVTJ.J on Monday said
it plans to spin off and list its food business on the local
stock exchange, beginning the industrial conglomerate's latest
attempt to separate its biggest division. Saudi International Petrochemical Co 2310.SE ( Sipchem )
said on Monday it has paid 375.3 million riyals ($100.1 million)
to raise its stake in two subsidiaries. Australia's OzForex Group Ltd OFX.AX said it has
terminated talks to be acquired by Western Union WU.N after
the U.S. money wiring giant failed to submit a binding proposal,
sending its shares tumbling nearly 40 percent to an all-time
low. Canada's Amaya Inc AYA.TO AYA.O , operator of online
gambling website PokerStars, said on Monday that a special
committee of its board has tapped Barclays (L:BARC) to review an expected
all-cash offer from its Chief Executive David Baazov.
The bidding war for Australian freight giant Asciano Ltd
AIO.AX heated up on Monday as local rival Qube Holdings Ltd
QUB.AX upped its proposal to A$9 billion ($6.4 billion),
trumping Canada's Brookfield Asset Management Inc BAMa.TO .
Kuwait Food Co (Americana) FOOD.KW said its board would
meet on Monday to discuss details of the sale of a controlling
stake in the company to an investment firm led by one of Dubai's
top businessmen. National Bank of Egypt's investment banking arm said on
Monday it had dropped its bid to buy CIB subsidiary CI Capital
COMI.CA , announced earlier in the day, after failing to agree
on a timeframe to complete feasibility studies. Activist investor Amber Capital said on Saturday it was
not happy with a new price set for the buyout of minority
shareholders in Italian train signalling group Ansaldo STS
STS.MI . = A$1.4116)
($1 = 3.7497 riyals)
($1 = 16.1745 rand)