Sept 15 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 2000 GMT on Friday:
** Specialty drugmaker Horizon Pharma PLC HZNP.O is working with investment bank Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) MS.N to review strategic options for its primary care drugs business, including a potential sale of the unit, people familiar with the matter said.
Lindorff/Intrum Justitia IJ.ST would be interested in buying an Italian bank's debt collection business to expand in the country, the head of the Scandinavian group's Italian unit said.
British budget airline EasyJet EZJ.L has bid for parts of Air Berlin's short haul business, the company said, joining Lufthansa and others in pursuit of the insolvent airline's assets. Labour representatives warned of the dangers of a break-up of Thyssenkrupp TKAG.DE, one of the alternatives to a merger of the German group's European steel operations with those of Tata Steel TISC.NS.
PPC PPCJ.J , South Africa's biggest cement producer, said it expected Canada's Fairfax Africa Investments FAHu.TO to raise its 9.2 billion-rand ($700 million) takeover offer. Specialty chemicals maker Clariant 's CLN.S proposed merger with U.S.-based Huntsman HUN.N may catapult the combined company into Switzerland's blue-chip Swiss Market Index, lifting its appeal for funds focusing on the largest Swiss companies.
Singapore's Mandarin Oriental International Ltd MOIL.SI said it had received bids for The Excelsior hotel in Hong Kong, with a media report suggesting that the iconic property could be valued at up to HK$34.2 billion ($4.38 billion).
Hong Kong-based insurance giant AIA Group Ltd 1299.HK has shown interest in buying Commonwealth Bank of Australia's CBA.AX insurance business, which is likely to be valued at about $4 billion, people with knowledge of the matter said.
Insolvent German airline Air Berlin AB1.DE has received several offers for its assets which will now be assessed, a spokesman for the carrier told Reuters TV.
Lufthansa LHAG.DE and several other parties have bid for parts of insolvent Air Berlin AB1.DE by a Friday deadline as administrators look for investors for Germany's second largest airline.
German online pharmacy Shop Apotheke SAEG.DE said it is currently not in talks to be bought by Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O , denying an earlier report by trade publication Apotheke Adhoc.
German family-owned logistics company Zeitfracht said it was submitting an offer for Air Berlin AB1.DE assets that it expects would secure around 1,000 jobs at the insolvent German airline.
Media scion Lachlan Murdoch made a revised offer for Ten Network Holdings Ltd TEN.AX, a day after Australia's senate voted to lift a ban on the ownership of multiple types of media assets, allowing him to challenge U.S. suitor CBS Corp (NYSE:CBS) CBS.N.
Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O is interested in buying German online pharmacy Shop Apotheke SAEG.BE, trade publication Apotheke Adhoc reported.
Russian lenders Promsvyazbank and Vozrozhdenie plan to merge next month, Vozrozhdenie said in a regulatory filing.
Nestle NESN.S has bought a majority stake in California-based Blue Bottle Coffee, marking a first step by the packaged coffee leader into the hipster world of speciality bars that serve high-end, single-origin and cold brewed coffees.
British sportswear retailer JD Sports Fashion JD.L said it had continued its global expansion with a joint venture deal to enter the South Korean market.
Eurobank EURBr.AT is in talks with Banca Transilvania ROTLV.BX to sell its subsidiaries in Romania as part of a restructuring plan agreed by Greece's third largest lender with European Union authorities.
JD Finance, a unit of China's No.2 e-commerce firm JD.com JD.O, is in talks to buy a 24 percent stake worth about $1.5 billion in domestic brokerage First Capital Securities Co Ltd 002797.SZ, people with knowledge of the matter said.
Bain Capital, now in the lead to buy Toshiba Corp's 6502.T prized memory chip unit, said it has brought in Dell Inc and other tech firms as new members of its consortium to bolster its bid.
France's Engie SA ENGIE.PA has received final bids from Chinese-owned Alinta Energy and private Australian firm Delta Electricity for its Loy Yang B coal-fired power plant in Australia, two people familiar with the process said.
"Moneyball" baseball executive Billy Beane is joining a consortium, including Chinese businessman Chien Lee and American investor Paul Conway, to acquire English soccer club Barnsley, a source close to the matter told Reuters.