(Adds Manchester United; updates TravelCenters, Home REIT)
Feb 16 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and
disposals were reported by 2030 GMT on Thursday:
** Saudi Arabia has submitted a bid for British soccer club Manchester
United PLC ahead of Friday's deadline, the Telegraph reported.
** UK housing provider Home REIT has received an unsolicited
takeover approach from an investment firm, it said, months after being rocked by
a short-seller report.
** BP will buy truck fueling provider TravelCenters of America
Inc for about $1.3 billion, the companies said, as the British energy
giant seeks to expand its retail network in a bet on biofuels and electric
vehicle charging.
** China will scrutinize Ford Motor Co's latest deal with battery
giant CATL to ensure the Chinese company's core technology is not
shared with the U.S. automaker, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday.
** An Italian private equity fund has bought 7.2% of Anima Holding , the bank that handled the deal said on Wednesday, investing in an
asset manager likely to be involved in future domestic banking consolidation.
** Airbus , the world's largest planemaker, is seeking to become the
No. 1 investor in Atos' soon-to-be spun-off division Evidian, France's
beleaguered IT consulting firm said amid scrutiny on an asset deemed strategic
by the government.
** China's Sinochem Holdings Corp, the biggest investor in Pirelli & C SpA , denied a report that it planned to sell its 37% stake in the Italian
tyremaker.
** Eminence Capital, a shareholder in Ritchie Bros Auctioneers Inc ,
has come out against the company's planned acquisition of U.S. auto retailer IAA
Inc , opposing a deal that has received support from activists Starboard
Value LP and Ancora Group Holdings.
** U.S.-listed Freedom Holding Corp , a Kazakhstan-based financial
services firm focused on East Europe and Central Asia, said it was acquiring
U.S. investment bank Maxim Group to expand its geographic reach.
** High-end French department store chain Galeries Lafayette said it was in
exclusive talks to sell the well-known BHV Marais lifestyle store in Paris to
Groupe SGM (Société des Grands Magasins), a family-run specialist urban retail
company.
** Truist Financial Corp is selling a minority stake in its
insurance brokerage unit to private equity firm Stone Point Capital in a deal
that values the unit at $14.75 billion, it said.
** A Russian government commission has approved the sale of Swedish
furniture maker IKEA's factories in Russia to two local buyers, paving the way
for a deal to be struck, a government official was quoted as saying.
** German utility Uniper has agreed to sell its oil refinery in
the United Arab Emirates to a consortium of Montfort and the private office of
Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum for an undisclosed sum, it said.
** U.S. private equity firm TPG is in advanced talks to buy Malaysian
private education assets owned by regional buyout firm KV Asia Capital in a deal
that could be worth more than $300 million, three sources with knowledge of the
matter told Reuters.
** Spanish grid operator Enagas has canceled the acquisition of a
20% stake in the BBL gas pipeline from German power utility Uniper , it
told market regulator CNMV.
** Switzerland's Holcim is to acquire thermoplastic roofs
manufacturer FDT Flachdach Technologie GmbH, the world's biggest cement maker
said.
(Compiled by Rajarshi Roy, Khushi Mandowara and Anirban Chakroborti in
Bengaluru)
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