(Adds: KfW, Brookfield Reinsurance, Microsoft, Anglo American
Plc, CVS Health Corp, Ancora Group Holdings, TP ICAP)
Feb 8 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers,
acquisitions and disposals were reported by 1430 GMT on
Wednesday:
** "Call of Duty" maker Activision Blizzard said it
hoped it could help Britain's competition regulator better
understand the gaming industry after it said the acquisition of
Activision Blizzard by Microsoft could harm gamers.
** German state lender KfW is in advanced talks
to take a minority stake in the high-voltage power grid owned by
EnBW , three people familiar with the matter said, in a
sign that Berlin is tightening its grip on energy
assets.
** Financial services firm Brookfield Reinsurance , said it would acquire insurer Argo Group
International Holdings in a deal valued at $1.1
billion.
** Anglo American Plc will buy a 9.9% stake in
Canada Nickel Co Inc , the owner of the Crawford nickel
project in Ontario, in its bid to expand production of the niche
metal, the London-listed miner said.
** CVS Health Corp will buy Oak Street Health
Inc for about $9.5 billion in cash, joining rivals in
adding primary care to its portfolio as pressure mounts on its
health insurance unit.
** Ancora Group Holdings, a key shareholder in U.S. auto
retailer IAA , has accumulated a 0.5% stake in Canada's
Ritchie Bros Auctioneers and is publicly challenging
investors who oppose their planned merger, according to
documents seen by Reuters.
** TP ICAP , the world's largest inter-dealer
broker, terminated talks to sell its data division Parameta for
about 1.5 billion pounds ($1.81 billion), a report from Sky News
said.
** Amsterdam-listed mobile telecoms operator VEON said it had won approval from Russian regulatory authorities for
the proposed sale of its Russian operations, driving up its
shares.
** Sabadell has picked Italian payments group Nexi as the preferred bidder to acquire the Spanish bank's
retailers' payments business, two sources with knowledge of the
matter said.
** Private equity firm Northstar Group is considering the
sale of Singapore's Innovalues in a deal that could value the
precision machine parts maker at over S$500 million ($377.47
million), two sources with knowledge of the matter told
Reuters.
** Indigo Partners-backed budget carrier JetSMART Airlines
said on Tuesday it wanted to buy Colombian low-cost carrier Viva
Air, in a move that if successful would scupper Viva's plans to
merge with Colombian flag carrier Avianca . (Compiled by Priyamvada C and Rajarshi Roy in Bengaluru)
Rajarshi.Roy@thomsonreuters.com;))
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