Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions

(Adds InVivo, Crescent Point Energy Corp, Jindal Stainless Ltd, Standard General, Asda, Arko Corp; updates Microsoft Corp) March 28 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 13:30 p.m. GMT on Tuesday:
** Malteries Soufflet, a branch of French agribusiness InVivo, made a $1.5-billion ($998 million) offer for United Malt Group , the companies said, sending the Australian company's shares up 35%.
** Crescent Point Energy Corp said it would acquire Spartan Delta Corp's oil and gas assets in Canada's Alberta province, for C$1.7 billion ($1.24 billion) to expand in the Montney region.
** India's Jindal Stainless Ltd said it would acquire a 49% stake in Indonesia-based New Yaking Pte. Ltd for $157 million as it seeks to secure a supply of nickel, a key ingredient in the production of stainless steel.
** Standard General said it had filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over its decision to hold hearings on the hedge fund's $5.4 billion plan to buy television station operator Tegna .
** British supermarket group Asda has offered to sell 13 petrol filling stations with attached grocery stores to secure regulatory clearance for its 611 million pound ($753 million) deal with The Co-operative Group .
** TravelCenters of America confirmed Arko Corp's $1.4 billion takeover offer is not superior to its existing proposal from British energy giant BP Plc .
** Japan's antitrust watchdog said it did not expect a merger between Microsoft Corp and Activision Blizzard to stifle competition, helping clear the way for the Xbox maker's $69 billion acquisition of the "Call of Duty" creator.
** UK's anti-trust regulator said it was looking into whether EDF's proposed acquisition of General Electric Co's France-based nuclear turbine unit could lead to competition concerns.
** BP and Abu Dhabi's state oil giant offered to acquire 50% of Israeli offshore natural gas producer NewMed Energy for around $2 billion, making their entry into Israel's growing energy sector.
** Lundin Mining Corp on Monday said it would buy a majority stake in Chile's Caserones copper mine for about $950 million to expand the Canadian miner's exposure to the red metal crucial for the green energy transition.
** South Korea's Kakao Corp and affiliate Kakao Entertainment have acquired a 40% stake in K-Pop agency SM Entertainment , the agency said.
** Australia's Liontown Resources said it had knocked back an approach from the world's biggest lithium producer Albemarle Corp that valued the lithium developer at A$5.50 billion ($3.7 billion) and sent its shares rocketing 59%.
** Philippine infrastructure conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp said it signed a deal to acquire a minority stake in renewable energy firm SP New Energy Corp SPNEC.PS for 2 billion pesos ($36.8 million).
** United Malt Group Ltd granted exclusive due diligence access to Malteries Soufflet, a branch of French agribusiness InVivo, after receiving a A$1.50 billion ($998 million) offer, the Australian commercial maltster said, sending its shares up 35%.
** A federal judge temporarily stopped bankrupt Voyager Digital from completing a proposed $1.3 billion sale to crypto exchange Binance.US, allowing the U.S. government more time to pursue appeals that challenge the legality of the deal.
** Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc boosted its ownership stake in Occidental Petroleum Corp to about 23.6% after buying nearly 3.7 million additional shares. (Compiled by Rajarshi Roy and Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru)