Jan 9 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 2100 GMT on Monday:
** Candy and pet food conglomerate Mars Inc is buying veterinary hospital operator VCA Inc WOOF.O for $7.7 billion in a deal that will give the maker of Pedigree pet food an even bigger share of the $4 billion global pet healthcare market. Japan's Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd 4502.T said it would buy cancer drug maker Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc ARIA.O in a deal valued at $5.20 billion, to beef up its oncology pipeline. UnitedHealth Group Inc (NYSE:UNH) UNH.N said it would buy Surgical Care Affiliates Inc SCAI.O for about $2.30 billion, adding heft to its business that provides services including primary and urgent care in ambulances. McDonald's Corp MCD.N has agreed to sell the bulk of its China and Hong Kong business to state-backed conglomerate CITIC Ltd 0267.HK and Carlyle Group LP CG.O for up to $2.1 billion, seeking to expand rapidly without using much of its own capital. French drugmaker Ipsen SA IPN.PA said it would buy some assets of Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Inc MACK.O , including pancreatic cancer drug Onivyde, for up to $1 billion, barely a month after the U.S. company stopped a breast cancer drug trial. Private-equity firm Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Group LP BX.N is no longer looking at buying a $5 billion stake in Energy Transfer Partners ETP.N , Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Turkey has given up moves to seek bids for the privatization of its national lottery in March and will continue to work on the process for it and the country's horse races, Finance Minister Naci Agbal told broadcaster NTV on Monday. Private group CEFC China Energy has signed a new deal with a unit of Kazakhstan's state oil and gas company owning assets mainly in Europe to go ahead with a stake transfer that was agreed a year earlier, CEFC executives said. Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) MS.N and UBS Group AG UBSG.S are set to raise their stakes in separate Chinese securities joint ventures to 49 percent, people with direct knowledge of the moves said, betting on strong deals momentum in the world's second-largest economy. Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris will travel to Brazil in two weeks to persuade the government his bid is the best option to rescue Oi SA OIBR4.SA , the carrier operating under bankruptcy protection, he told newspaper Folha de S.Paulo. Workers at German steelmaker Thyssenkrupp TKAG.DE will refuse to pick up the tab for concessions being offered to British unions by Tata Steel TISC.NS to further a merger, Thyssenkrupp's labour chief told Reuters. The board of Kuwait Food Co FOOD.KW (Americana) said an offer from its major shareholder Gulf investment firm Adeptio to buy out minority shareholders at 2.650 dinars was fair, according to a bourse statement. The venture arms of Microsoft MSFT.O and Qualcomm QCOM.O have invested in Team8, an Israeli creator of cybersecurity start-ups, as big multinational companies get behind Israel's burgeoning cyber industry in the face of growing threats. Ethiopia aims to offer foreign firms stakes in some state-owned companies to help modernise the businesses, the prime minister said in a shift from stressing state investment to drive growth. French oil major Total TOTF.PA has expanded its stake in Uganda's Lake Albert oil project by snapping up most of Tullow Oil's TLW.L stake for $900 million, the companies said. Arle Capital Partners is selling its 11.25 percent holding Milan-listed gym equipment retailer Technogym TGYM.MI through an offering to international institutional investors, a bank handling the sale said in a statement. Italian lenders Popolare di Vicenza and Veneto Banca have unveiled a proposed settlement deal with disgruntled shareholders that could cost the two banks more than 600 million euros ($634 million), adding to capital pressures that may push them to request state aid. California-based apparel maker Next Level Apparel has submitted an offer to challenge a $66 million bid from Canadian apparel maker Gildan Activewear Inc GIL.TO for bankrupt American Apparel LLC, a person familiar with the matter said. Auryn Resources Inc AUG.TO said that Goldcorp Inc G.TO , the world's third-largest gold producer by market value, would buy a stake in the Canadian exploration company for C$35 million ($26.49 million).