(Adds Twitter (N:TWTR), Liberty Global, FireEye, Synaptics, The
Medicines Co, Entertainment One and EEX)
Jan 20 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions
and disposals were reported by 2200 GMT on Wednesday:
** Rupert Murdoch's News Corp NWSA.O said rumors about
the company's interest in buying microblogging site Twitter Inc
TWTR.N or building a stake in it were untrue. Royal Dutch Shell Plc's RDSa.L acquisition target BG
Group BG.L beat its 2015 production target, it said on
Wednesday, days before shareholder meetings to vote on a $47
billion deal that is expected to go through in coming weeks.
U.S. cable group Liberty Global LBTYA.O is set to
secure EU approval for its 1.3-billion-euro ($1.4 billion) bid
for KPN's KPN.AS Belgian unit after pledging to divest assets
to boost a rival, two people familiar with the matter said on
Wednesday. FireEye Inc FEYE.O said it paid $200 million to buy
privately held iSight Partners, in a move to boost its cyber
intelligence offerings for governments and businesses as the
sector consolidates. Synaptics Inc SYNA.O is moving closer to a deal with a
Chinese investment group that values the touchscreen chip maker
at more than $110 per share, Bloomberg reported, citing people
familiar with the matter. The Medicines Co's MDCO.O ongoing strategic review has
produced bidders interested primarily in a few key company
assets, although the discussions could still lead to a sale of
the entire company, people familiar with the matter said on
Wednesday. Staples Inc SPLS.O said it would give itself three more
months before calling off its proposed $6.3 billion acquisition
of Office Depot Inc ODP.O , giving the companies time to fight
an antitrust lawsuit with the Federal Trade Commission.
Mellanox Technologies Ltd's MLNX.O $811 million
acquisition of EZchip Semiconductor EZCH.TA will add to its
revenue and net profit immediately, its chief executive said on
Wednesday. U.S. activist hedge fund Livermore Partners is calling on
Canadian and UK media firm Entertainment One ETO.L to slow
down its pace of dealmaking and improve its cash flow, the
fund's top executive said. Germany's European Energy Exchange (EEX) signed a deal on
Wednesday to take a controlling stake in the Prague-based Power
Exchange Central Europe (PXE), giving Europe's leading energy
bourse a foothold in central and southeastern Europe.
India's JSW Energy Ltd JSWE.NS said it expected to
announce a deal by February to buy a thermal power plant as
discussions continue for two such plants. Saudi Aramco said on Wednesday it was in advanced talks
to invest in refineries in China and the company was also in
talks with CNPC and Sinopec for investment opportunities in
refining, marketing and petrochemicals. Adecco ADEN.VX , the world's largest staffing group,
plans no transformational acquisitions, it said on Wednesday,
declining to comment on a Daily Mail report on rumors of a deal
to buy British recruitment company Hays HAYS.L . A legal protest by Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd CP.TO
over a meeting among big U.S. railroads about mergers in their
industry has highlighted maneuvering in the sector to cope with
a rapid downturn and possible consolidation. Leidos Holdings Inc LDOS.N is nearing a deal to merge
with the government information technology and services
businesses being shed by Lockheed Martin Corp (N:LMT) LMT.N in a deal
that could value these assets at around $5 billion, people
familiar with the matter said. EWE LANDWE.UL , Germany's fifth-largest utility by
sales, has hundreds of millions of euros for potential
takeovers, its new chief executive said, boosted by the sale of
its stake in gas firm VNG VNG.UL late last year. The European Commission will play no part in the
screening of any tie-up between Orange ORAN.PA and Bougyues'
BOUY.PA telecom division, leaving the issue to France's
competition authority, according to three sources close to the
matter. Spain's Banco Popular POP.MC is considering selling up
to 8 billion euros ($8.7 billion) worth of real estate assets in
2016 to reshape its balance sheet, a source familiar with the
matter said on Wednesday. Spanish infrastructure company Ferrovial FER.MC
confirmed its takeover offer for Australian detention center
firm Broadspectrum BRS.AX on Wednesday, saying the offer was
more attractive in the current environment. France's Aeroports de Paris SA ADP.PA has emerged as
the front-runner to buy a 20 percent stake in Airports Corp of
Vietnam (ACV), after an official confirmed Changi Airport
International had failed at the application stage. Danish company NKT Holding NKT.CO has appointed
investment bank JP Morgan Chase (N:JPM) & Co JPM.N to look at the
possibility of selling NKT Cables, its largest business, Danish
newspaper Jyllands-Posten said on Wednesday. Copenhagen-based Saxo Bank said it had signed a deal with
BlackRock BLK.N , the world's largest money manager, to use
investment portfolios based on BlackRock's exchange-traded funds
(ETFs). Elmrox Investment Group LLC, one of the largest
shareholders of Ashland Inc ASH.N , is urging the chemical
maker to halt plans to spin off its Valvoline business and
instead seek a buyer for its specialty-chemicals unit, the Wall
Street Journal reported, citing a presentation it reviewed.
Global mining firm Anglo American AAL.L will sell its
Callide coal mine in Australia to Batchfire Resources, it said
on Wednesday. Antivirus software maker Symantec Corp SYMC.O said on
Tuesday it would receive $1 billion less in cash for its data
storage unit Veritas from Carlyle Group LP CG.O , cutting the
price of the biggest leveraged buyout of 2015 after debt backing
the deal failed to sell.