UPDATE 3-Deals of the day -- mergers and acquisitions
(Updates Repsol, Porsche, adds Dow Chemical, LandAmerica, others)
Nov 26 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals involving European, North American and Asian companies were reported by 2100 GMT on Wednesday.
(For Reuters columns on deals, click on [DEALTALK/] )
** Goldman Sachs (GS.N) has broken off talks with Panasonic Corp (6752.T) for now on selling its stake in Sanyo Electric (6764.T) after the electronics maker made an offer below Sanyo's current stock price.
To read more, please double-click on [ID:nT83369]
** Global miner Rio Tinto Ltd (RIO.AX) (RIO.L) said it was confident it could sell assets worth billions of dollars to pay down massive debt, despite concerns about a lack of buyers, a day after rival BHP Billiton Ltd dropped a bid for the firm. [ID:nSYD328655]
** U.S. firm Dow Chemical (DOW.N) said it was on track to close a deal this year for a $19 billion petrochemicals venture after partner Kuwait Petroleum Corp was reported as saying it was under review. [ID:nLQ391209]
** LandAmerica Financial Group Inc LFG.N filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and agreed to sell its largest underwriting businesses to Fidelity National Financial Inc (FNF.N), which withdrew its takeover bid for the title insurer last week. [ID:nBNG362882]
** The C$34.8 billion ($28.3 billion) leveraged buyout of BCE Inc (BCE.TO) -- the world's largest such deal -- stood on the brink of collapse, after BCE said its accountants had ruled that the company that emerges from the deal would not meet a solvency test because of its huge debt load. [ID:nN26331920]
** India's Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (SUN.BO) said its unit had acquired 100 percent of U.S.-based narcotic producer and importer Chattem Chemicals Inc for an undisclosed sum. [ID:nBOM392391]
** QBE Insurance Group Ltd (QBE.AX), Australia's top insurer by premium income, will buy U.S.-based underwriting agency ZC Sterling Corp for $575 million, part funded by a $1.3 billion equity raising, and raised its 2008 revenue growth target. [ID:nSYD326091]
** Bahrain-based retail lender Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait BBKB.BH BBKB.KW (BBK) is considering merging its newly launched Islamic bank with peer Shamil Bank SHAM.BH or another bank, its chief executive said in remarks published in Al Watan newspaper. [ID:nLQ654022]
** U.S. private equity group KKR [KKR.UL] is planning a bid for Abengoa's (ABG.MC) Nasdaq-listed technology unit Telvent GIT (TLVT.O), Expansion reported citing sources familiar with the deal. [ID:nLQ22765]
