UPDATE 3-Deals of the day -- mergers and acquisitions

(Adds E*Trade Financial, Sprint Nextel, SAP and others)

Nov 29 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals involving European, U.S. and Asian companies were reported by 2115 GMT on Thursday.

(For Reuters columns on deals, click on [DEALTALK/])

** Ping An Insurance (Group) Co (2318.HK), China's No.2 life insurer, said it has paid 1.81 billion euros ($2.7 billion) for a stake in Europe's Fortis (FOR.AS)(FOR.BR), the latest example of a Chinese entity making a major investment in a foreign financial services firm.

To read more, please double click on [nHKG334017]

** Sprint Nextel Corp (S.N) rejected an offer by South Korea's SK Telecom (017670.KS) and private equity firm Providence Equity Partners to invest $5 billion in the company and install its former chairman, Tim Donahue, as chief executive, WSJ.com reported. [nWEN2735]

** E*Trade Financial Corp (ETFC.O) is getting a $2.55 billion cash infusion from investors led by Citadel Investment Group, which is also buying the mortgage-related securities portfolio that has been the primary source of the discount brokerage's recent woes. [nN29457236]

** U.S. private equity firm TPG Capital plans to pay $1.3 billion for Canadian pharmaceutical company Axcan Pharma AXP.TO and take it private at a time when Axcan is facing keen competition from generic products. [nN29320191]

** VeraSun Energy Corp VSE.N said it would acquire US BioEnergy Corp USBE.O in a bid to expand its ethanol capacity, in an all-stock deal that values US BioEnergy at $686 million. [nN29168458]

** Software maker SAP (SAPG.DE) expects to launch its 4.8 billion euro ($7.1 billion) offer for Business Objects BOBJ.PA on Dec. 4 after getting the final required regulatory approval, it said. [nL29904105]

** German car parts maker Continental AG (CONG.DE) received unconditional approval from the European Commission to buy Siemens AG's (SIEGn.DE) auto electronics unit VDO for 11.4 billion euros ($16.9 billion). [nL29885764]

** Sherwood Investments Overseas Ltd said it offered $7 per share, or $217 million, for entertainment software retailer Trans World Entertainment Corp (TWMC.O). [nWNAS3447]

** National Australia Bank Ltd. (NAB.AX), the country's top lender by assets, said it agreed to buy privately owned Great Western Bank for $798 million, looking to extend its reach into the U.S. agricultural lending business. [nSYD295628]

** Telus Corp (T.TO), Canada's No. 2 phone company, said it had agreed to acquire Emergis EME.TO with a cash offer of C$8.25 per common share that values the electronic commerce firm at about C$763 million ($770 million). [nN29191608]

** Australian grocery chain Woolworths Ltd (WOW.AX) and New Zealand co-operative, Foodstuffs, won court clearance to bid for The Warehouse Group Ltd (WHS.NZ), sending shares in New Zealand's largest-listed retailer up nearly 25 percent. [nWEL149598]

** The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission said he wants to grant media group Tribune Co TRB.N a temporary exemption from U.S. media ownership rules, removing an obstacle to an $8.2 billion leveraged buyout of the company. [nN28423618]