The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 2100 GMT on Wednesday:

** Two sugar mills in Brazil owned by India’s Shree Renuka Sugars Ltd, which filed for bankruptcy protection three years ago, will be put up for sale in a judicial auction on Dec. 18, according to court documents seen by Reuters.

** Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund PIF is exploring the acquisition of up to a $700 million stake in Legendary Entertainment, the U.S. movie studio behind films such as “Jurassic World” and “Interstellar”, according to people familiar with the matter.

** Shareholders in Vodacom Tanzania approved the sale of a 26 percent stake owned by Mirambo Holdings Ltd to South Africa’s Vodacom Group.

** Food group Barilla said it had presented an offer to buy the second-largest pasta plant in Italy from domestic rival Pasta Zara to boost its production capacity.

** French drugmaker Ipsen plans to bring in multiple new medicines through a series of transactions and sees the recent price drop of biotech stocks as increasing deal opportunities, its chief executive said.

** Bulgaria’s central bank has given Hungary’s OTP Bank the green light to buy Societe Generale’s Bulgarian businesses, the central bank said in a statement.

** British packaging group DS Smith gained EU antitrust approval for its 1.9-billion-euro ($2.2 billion) purchase of Spanish rival Europac after agreeing to sell production plants in Portugal and France.

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** Dutch-Belgian supermarket group Ahold Delhaize, the owner of the Stop & Shop and Giant Food stores, is looking for acquisitions in the United States, its chief executive said in a Dutch newspaper report.

** National carrier Garuda Indonesia said it will take over operational control of rival Sriwijaya Group, giving the airlines a majority share of the fast-growing domestic aviation market.

** Two shareholders of Restaurant Group Plc called on the owner of Frankie & Benny’s to cancel its proposed 357-million-pound ($463 million) deal to buy the Wagamama noodle chain.

** Italy’s Treasury is mulling the idea of selling a stake of around 3.3 percent in oil major Eni and 53.3 percent in air traffic controller ENAV to state lender CDP, two sources said.

** Buyout group Cerberus is in exclusive talks with NordLB to take on 2.5 billion euros ($2.8 billion) of non-performing shipping loans that the German public sector lender wants to shed ahead of a planned stake sale, sources close to the matter said.

** An Indian tribunal has ruled that UltraTech Cement Ltd’s more than $1 billion bid for the cement unit of Binani Industries Ltd was valid, UltraTech said.

** Korean petroleum products maker SK Innovation and several buyout groups have been short-listed in an auction for Evonik’s methacrylates plastics unit, which makes clear acrylic sheets, people close to the matter said.

** German fintech company Wirecard hiked its profit target after reporting a jump in third-quarter net earnings by 51 percent to 97 million euros ($110 million) thanks to a boom in e-commerce and digital payments.

** British regional airline Flybe Group Plc said it was in talks with potential buyers, as it grapples with higher fuel costs, lower demand and a weak British pound, sending its shares up as much as 44 percent in early trading.

** British shopping center owner Intu Properties said it had given a consortium considering a takeover more time to make an offer for the company.

** Indorama Ventures Public Company (IVL), a Thai petrochemicals producer, has acquired 74 percent of Egypt’s packing and packaging Medco Plast for 843 million Egyptian pounds ($47.15 million), Egypt’s HC Securities said in a statement.

** UK’s Grainger Plc said it would acquire Grip REIT plc for 396 million pounds ($514.6 million) to expand in the private-rented sector.

** Pan American Silver Corp said it has agreed to buy Tahoe Resources Inc in a $1.07 billion cash and stock deal that would create a top global silver miner but also include some troublesome assets.

** British engineer Smiths Group plans to spin off its healthcare business to focus on industrial technology, two months after a 7 billion pound ($9.1 billion) deal to merge it with U.S.-based ICU Medical collapsed.

** France’s Alstom voiced confidence it would finalize a merger with Siemens’ railway business by the middle of next year despite an investigation by European authorities as it reported a big rise in first half profit.

** Barclays has been appointed by Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) to advise on a potential merger plan involving Union National Bank (UNB) and Al Hilal Bank, banking sources told Reuters.

** Dexia Israel Bank said it has accepted an offer to be acquired by Israel Discount Bank for 670 million shekels ($181 million) in cash.

** The U.S. government is still reviewing a merger of Harris Corp and L3 Technologies, a top Pentagon official said, adding that she had no fundamental concerns about further consolidation in the U.S. defense sector. (Compiled by Mary Ann Alapatt, Arundhati Sarkar and Bharath Manjesh in Bengaluru)