(Adds SoftBank, Hellenic Petroleum, GM, Banco, HSBC)
May 31 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 2000 GMT on Thursday:
** Japan's SoftBank Group Corp 9984.T will invest $2.25 billion in General Motors (NYSE:GM) Co's GM.N autonomous vehicle unit Cruise, the companies said, a deal that validates the venerable Detroit automaker's leadership in self-driving cars and sent GM shares up more than 10 percent. Orange ORAN.PA , France's biggest telecoms operator, is looking to merge its Orange Cinema Series (OCS) arm with Altice Studio ATCA.AS to create a new business big enough to challenge the likes of Netflix NFLX.O , Le Figaro newspaper reported. Swiss private bank and asset manager Union Bancaire Privee has agreed to buy Carnegie Investment Bank AB unit Banque Carnegie Luxembourg SA (BCL), the parties said without revealing financial terms. Nokia NOKIA.HE said it had sold its small digital health business, including activity trackers and smartwatches, and the executive who wound down the company's consumer ventures will leave Nokia after less than a year in the job. Italy's oil and gas major Eni ENI.MI is in the process of reducing its stakes in its oilfields in Mexico and Indonesia, Chief Financial Officer Massimo Mondazzi said. Greek electricity utility Public Power Corp (PPC) DEHr.AT invited investors to submit expressions of interest for the sale of coal-fired units by June 21. Malaysia's Petronas said it had agreed to buy a 25 percent stake in the LNG Canada project. Integrated energy group Sembcorp Industries SCIL.SI has agreed to buy UK Power Reserve, Britain's largest flexible power generator, for an equity value of 216 million pounds ($288 million. Jenbacher, the industrial gas engine business of General Electric (NYSE:GE) GE.N , would complement Wartsila WRT1V.HE , the chief financial officer of the Finnish company said. Britain's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said that Informa's INF.L 5.6 billion pound ($7.45 billion) takeover of rival UBM UBM.L did not qualify for an investigation. Australia's Sino Gas & Energy Holdings Ltd SEH.AX agreed to a A$530 million ($401 million) takeover offer from U.S. private equity firm Lone Star, saying the risks the company faces in China justified putting the bid to a vote. Indonesian coal miner Adaro Energy ADRO.JK said Australian authorities have approved its plan to acquire Rio Tinto's stake in the Kestrel coking coal mine in the Australian state of Queensland, and the company expects to finalise financing for the deal on July 1. Italy's Enel SpA ENEI.MI outbid Spanish utility Iberdrola SA IBE.MC with a 7.6 billion reais ($2 billion) bid for Brazilian grid operator Eletropaulo Metropolitana Eletricidade de Sao Paulo SA ELPL3.SA , according to a securities filing. Canadian specialty chemicals firm Superior Plus Corp SPB.TO said it would buy NGL Energy Partners' NGL.N retail propane unit for $900 million in cash to boost its presence in the United States. Drugmaker Allergan (NYSE:AGN) Plc said it plans to sell two of its smaller businesses, the women's health and infectious disease units, as Chief Executive Officer Brent Saunders works to end a steep slide in its share price over the last year. Hellenic Petroleum HEPr.AT expects that the sale of a majority stake in Greece's gas grid DESFA will be completed early next year, its deputy chief executive said on Thursday. Uzbekistan plans to buy GM's GM.N remaining 10 percent stake in the U.S. carmaker's plant in the country this year, Uzbek news website Gazeta.uz quoted state auto company chief Umidjan Salimov as saying on Thursday. Italy's third largest bank, Banco BPM BAMI.MI , is looking to sell part of its debt servicing unit as it strives to meet its bad-loan reduction goals two years ahead of time, sources familiar with the matter said. At least 10 high-profile dealmakers in Europe have left HSBC HSBA.L in recent months at a time of record merger activity, after the bank failed to overhaul its investment banking unit and revamp client teams, four sources said.