MERGERS/DEALS (UPDATE 3)

** Ireland's FBD Holdings Plc (FBD.I) said its board had rejected an approach from the Netherlands' biggest insurer Eureko, partly owned by unlisted Rabobank [RABN.UL]. [nL28121133]

** Italy's leading insurer Assicurazioni Generali (GASI.MI) would be interested in two insurance units of UK bank RBS (RBS.L) if they were up for sale, Chairman Antoine Bernheim said. [nL2610145]

** Dubai government investment agency Istithmar World Capital said it would buy a majority stake in a U.S. asset management firm as it expands outside of the world's biggest oil-exporting region.

Istithmar did not disclose financial details of the deal to buy into North Carolina-based Gulf Stream Asset Management, which it said manages about $3.8 billion in corporate credit portfolios. [nL28144360]

** European oil traders Vitol has bought a 25 percent stake in London-based clean energy project developers Carbon Resource Management, the Swiss company said. Vitol did not say how much the deal was worth. [nL28162880]

** India's Essar group said its telecom unit, Essar Communications Holdings, had bought a strategic stake in California-based Obopay Inc, a service provider for payments via mobile phones, for an undisclosed sum. [nDEL154263]

** Brembo's (BRBI.MI) chairman said he had held talks with executives at Pininfarina (PNNI.MI) about the possibility of buying into the car designer and contract manufacturer. [nL28462947] (Compiled by Tina Kwan in Singapore, Nachiket Kelkar and Esha Dey in Bangalore)