Deals of the day - mergers and acquisitions

Feb 1 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 2100 GMT on Friday:

** Dell Inc is edging closer to an agreement to sell itself to a buyout consortium led by Michael Dell, its founder and chief executive, and private equity firm Silver Lake Partners in a deal that could top $24 billion, people familiar with the matter said.

The buyout consortium is negotiating taking Dell private at $13 to $14 per share, two of the people said. This translates into an equity valuation for the Round Rock, Texas-based company of between $22.6 billion and $24.4 billion.

** Ukrainian industrialist Dmytro Firtash, a supporter of President Viktor Yanukovich, has bought leading TV station Inter for $2.5 billion, the station said.

Firtash's Group DF bought Inter and other media outlets from a company owned by Valery Khoroshkovsky, who quit as first deputy prime minister in December after criticising Prime Minister Mykola Azarov for slow reforms.

** Traders and brokers on NYSE Liffe soft agricultural commodity markets met this week to discuss fears IntercontinentalExchange's planned takeover of their contracts may create a near monopoly and hike trading fees, sources who were present said.

ICE's interest in Liffe's parent, NYSE Euronext NYX.N, was announced in December when details of an $8.2 billion deal emerged. (Full Story) The deal still requires regulatory approval.

** India's GAIL Ltd is teaming up with a unit of French group EDF to jointly scout for natural gas assets in the United States as demand in India grows, its chairman said.

** MetLife Inc said it has agreed with BBVA to buy AFP Provida S.A., the largest private pension fund administrator in Chile, for about $2 billion in cash to expand its presence in emerging markets.

** Bristol-Myers Squibb Co is seeking a buyer for some of its brands in Mexico and Brazil with any sale possible bringing in as much as $750 million, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

** Four major telecoms companies are competing to buy Bulgarian mobile operator Globul in a deal expected to be worth about 700 million euros ($950 million), a source with direct knowledge of the process said.

** Clearwire Corp said it was still evaluating an offer from Dish Network Corp to buy the company for $3.30 per share even as it recommended that shareholders vote for a rival offer from Sprint Nextel Corp.

** Generic drugmaker Perrigo Co has bought privately held Velcera Inc for $160 million, its second acquisition in the animal healthcare market in four months as it seeks to bring its successful store-brand over-the-counter model to pet care.

** Austrian energy group OMV has agreed to sell its Croatian filling stations to Croatian oil and gas supplier Crodux Plin.

** Fashion company Fifth & Pacific Cos is in the early stages of exploring alternatives for its struggling Juicy brand, including a potential sale, according to two people familiar with the matter.

** Japanese brewer Kirin Holdings Co Ltd said it plans to sell its entire holdings in Fraser and Neave Ltd to TCC Assets Ltd, giving the group led by Thailand's third-richest man nearly 69 percent of the Singapore drinks and real estate group.

** Italian group Autogrill may split its business in two, a move that could unlock value at its Food & Beverage and Travel Retail & Duty Free divisions. Autogrill said on Friday the plan might involve a partial and proportional demerger of its Travel Retail business.

** Chinese car maker Geely has bought Manganese Bronze, the maker of London's black taxis, for 11 million pounds