(Adds TBI Bank, Tourbillon Capital, Deutsche Boerse, UniCredit,
J Sainsbury (OTC:JSAIY))
May 27 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions
and disposals were reported by 2000 GMT on Friday:
** Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc (NYSE:TMO) TMO.N , the world's largest
maker of scientific instruments, said it would buy FEI Co
FEIC.O for about $4.2 billion to gain access to the company's
electron microscopy technology that helps study proteins.
Finnish utility Fortum Oyj FUM1V.HE has agreed to pay
470 million euros ($525 mln) for an 81 percent stake in Ekokem,
a local waste treatment company that won a high-profile contract
to help destroy Syria's chemical weapons. Bulgaria's central bank said it has given
Luxembourg-registered consumer lending group 4finance
preliminary approval to buy indirectly a small Bulgarian lender,
TBI Bank. Hedge fund firm Tourbillon Capital Partners LP has sent a
letter to SunOpta Inc SOY.TO , urging that the Canadian food
company be sold to increase shareholder value, according to a
regulatory filing. Activist hedge fund TCI backs plans for a merger of
Deutsche Boerse DB1Gn.DE and the London Stock Exchange
LSE.L , fund founder Chris Hohn told German magazine Der
Spiegel, 11 years after winning a high-profile campaign to
prevent a deal. The European Commission has approved a long-delayed deal
between UniCredit CRDI.MI and Santander SAN.MC to merge
their fund management businesses, it said, adding the tie-up did
not raise competition concerns. Britain's competition watchdog said it was launching an
inquiry into supermarket chain J Sainsbury Plc's SBRY.L 1.4
billion pound ($2 billion) takeover of Home Retail Plc HOME.L .
French insurer AXA AXAF.PA is selling its UK investment
and pensions business to Phoenix Group PHNX.L , completing a
well-flagged exit from a mature life assurance market to focus
on faster-growing emerging economies. Shares in Belgian and Dutch mail operators Bpost
BPOST.BR and PostNL PTNL.AS were suspended on Friday,
pending announcements from both companies after reports of a
possible merger. ChemChina is interested in buying SGL Carbon SGCG.DE ,
Manager Magazin reported on Friday, one of a growing number of
Chinese companies seeking to acquire key German industrial
technology. Britain's government said it had started discussions on
overhauling the deficit-laden British Steel Pension Scheme, a
major stumbling block for potential buyers of Tata Steel 's
TISC.NS UK assets. Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) VZ.N is working on its bid
for Yahoo Inc 's YHOO.O core assets with an investment bank
which was, as recently as last year, one of the U.S. internet
company's top advisers, people familiar with the matter said.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc (NYSE:VRX) VRX.TO
received a joint takeover offer from Japan's Takeda
Pharmaceutical Co Ltd 4502.T and TPG Capital Management LP
TPG.UL this spring that the Canadian drugmaker rejected,
according to a source familiar with the matter. Anacor Pharmaceuticals Inc ANAC.O had received an offer
from a third party before it agreed to be bought by Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE)
PFE.N in a $5.2 billion deal last week, regulatory filings
showed. Australia's competition watchdog said it would review
Seven West Media's SWM.AX proposal to acquire The Sunday Times
in Western Australia and its associated web site from News Ltd
NWSA.O . Adidas ADSGn.DE said it had agreed to sell U.S.
sportswear seller Mitchell & Ness, resulting in a one-time gain
in a the low to medium double-digit million euro
range. China's Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science and Technology Co
Ltd 000157.SZ has abandoned its $3.4 billion bid for U.S.
crane maker Terex Corp TEX.N after failing to agree terms,
clearing the way for a smaller deal between Terex and Finland's
Konecranes KCR1V.HE . Britain's Arbuthnot Banking Group Plc ARBB.L said it
would sell about 5.8 million shares, or a 31.9 percent stake, in
its retail bank Secure Trust Bank Plc STBS.L through a
secondary placing.