(Adds Deutsche Telekom, Chrysaor; Updates Japan Post, Sainsbury’s, G4S) Dec 13 (Reuters) – The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 1330 GMT on Thursday: ** Private equity-backed oil firm Chrysaor has hired advisers ahead of talks to buy Chevron’s British North Sea oil and gas fields for over $2.5 billion, industry and banking sources said. ** Europe’s second-highest court slashed an EU antitrust fine handed down to Deutsche Telekom four years ago by about a third to 19 million euros ($21.6 million), saying that EU regulators had erred in calculating the penalty. ** Japan Post Holdings Co, is planning to invest about $2.6 billion in Aflac Inc, aiming to become the largest shareholder in the U.S. insurer, a person familiar with the matter said. ** Britain’s competition regulator has delayed plans to publish its initial view on a probe into Sainsbury’s proposed 7.3 billion pound ($9.2 billion) takeover of rival Asda . ** Italy’s UniCredit does not see any merger with another bank until late 2021 at the earliest, the bank’s CEO Jean Pierre Mustier was cited by monthly magazine Euromoney as saying. ** The Australian consumer watchdog warned a A$15 billion ($11 billion) tie-up between the local arm of Britain’s Vodafone Group and internet provider TPG Telecom Ltd may hurt competition, sending shares down across the sector. ** Italian construction group Salini Impregilo and Japan’s IHI Corporation have made non-binding bids for troubled Italian builder Astaldi, a source said citing a document. ** Indonesian coal miner PT Bayan Resources Tbk has completed the acquisition of its Australian-listed unit Kangaroo Resources Limited in a transaction worth A$226.4 million ($163.7 million), it said in a filing to the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX). ** Mondelez International Inc has agreed to sell its Middle East cheese business, which is currently licensed under the Kraft brand, to Danish dairy firm Arla Foods. ** United Arab Emirates-based UAE Exchange and U.S. startup Ripple plan to launch cross-border remittances to Asia via blockchain by the first quarter of 2019, UAE Exchange’s group CEO said in an interview. ** South African construction firm Group Five Ltd has received interest from a number of parties for various parts of its business as it explores selling some assets, it said. ** Business supplies distributor Bunzl Plc expects full-year revenue to rise 8 to 9 percent at constant currency rates, it said, as a series of acquisitions and a growing North American clientele drive gains. ** Israeli blockchain startup Orbs said it received an investment from Kakao Investment, the venture arm of South Korean internet conglomerate Kakao Corp. ** Investment fund Quattro R is close to reaching a deal with the owners of Trussardi to take a stake of around 80 percent in the Italian fashion house, newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore said. ** G4S plans to separate its 1.2 billion pound ($1.5 billion) a year cash business, it said, sending shares in the world’s biggest security company 8 percent higher. ** French energy company Total said it has agreed to sell a 4 percent stake in its Australian Ichthys liquefied natural gas (LNG) project to Japanese partner Inpex for $1.6 billion, following cost overruns. (Compiled by Manogna Maddipatla in Bengaluru)
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