UPDATE 3-Deals of the day - mergers and acquisitions
(Adds Green Plains, National Express, Fiat and others)
May 21 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals involving European, U.S. and Asian companies were reported by 2000 GMT on Thursday.
(For Reuters columns on deals, click on [DEALTALK/])
** Top Australian shareholders in Rio Tinto (RIO.AX) called for changes to the miner's planned $19.5 billion tie-up with China's state-owned Chinalco, and a newspaper reported that Chinalco will restructure the deal.
To read more, please double click on [ID:nSYD451779]
** Italian car maker Fiat SpA (FIA.MI) submitted two versions of its offer for General Motors Corp's GM.N Opel and Vauxhall units, one with and another without a bid for GM's Latin American operations, Automotive News reported. [ID:nLL547650]
** Qwest Communications International Inc (Q.N) has asked for bids for its long-distance network to be submitted early next month and is looking for more than $2 billion, but some bankers don't see it fetching this much, people familiar with the matter said. [ID:nN21292102]
** Far Eastern International Bank said it will buy AIG's (AIG.N) Taiwan credit card and accounts-receivable businesses for T$2-3 billion ($61-90 million), in the latest consolidation of Taiwan's crowded financial sector. [ID:nTP301470]
** IPC Holdings Ltd IPCR.O board rejected a sweetened takeover bid by Validus Holdings Ltd (VR.N) and backed its Max Capital Group Ltd (MXGL.O) deal, once again turning down overtures by the hostile suitor. [ID:nN21216450]
** Data storage equipment maker NetApp Inc (NTAP.O) said it will buy another storage-related firm, Data Domain DDUP.O, for $1.5 billion, even as it reported a decline in quarterly profit and avoided giving an outlook due to the weak economy. [ID:nN20533291]
** China's Guangzhou Automobile will sign an agreement to take a 29 percent stake in Hunan Changfeng Motor Co (600991.SS), becoming the largest shareholder of the sport utility vehicle specialist, a source with knowledge of the matter said. [ID:nSHA84873]
** Green Plains Renewable Energy Inc (GPRE.O) said that it would pay $123.5 million to buy two ethanol plants from a lender group led by AgStar Financial Services, which picked up the plants from bankrupt VeraSun Energy Corp. [ID:nN21261668]
** British bus and rail group National Express (NEX.L) is selling its London bus business to Dutch group NedRailways in a bid to reduce borrowings. [ID:nLL605914]
** Qatar's largest investment bank, QInvest, trumped two other bidders to buy a 44 percent stake in Panmure Gordon & Co (PMR.L), investing 23 million pounds ($36.3 million) in the 130-year-old British stockbroking firm. [ID:nLL429553]
** Troubled Polish insulin maker Bioton BOTN.WA plans to complete the sale of its 38-percent stake in Russian unit Bioton Wostok in June, chief executive Janusz Guy said. [ID:nLL656684] (Compiled by Tina Kwan in Singapore; Mansi Dutta and Anand Basu in Bangalore)
