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

** Two large British public sector pension funds on Tuesday said they planned to combine their more than 10 billion pounds ($16 billion) in assets to save costs and boost performance. The Lancashire County Pension Fund and London Pensions Fund Authority said they would both retain their separate identity and local accountability, but that the tie-up would ultimately cover all areas of activity, including pension administration.

** Arizona Chemical Holdings Corp, the largest producer of pine chemicals used in fragrances, plastics and household cleaners, is exploring a sale that could value it at over $1.5 billion, including debt, according to people familiar with the matter.

** British insurers Aviva and Friends Life said on Tuesday their boards have agreed to the terms of their recommended all-share merger, creating a market leader with 16 million life insurance customers.

Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co Ltd, a unit of Japan's Otsuka Holdings Co Ltd, said it would buy U.S.-based Avanir Pharmaceuticals Inc for about $3.5 billion to expand its neurologic drug portfolio.

** Deutsche Bank and retail property group ECE are to buy the landmark PalaisQuartier shopping center and hotel complex in the center of Frankfurt for around 800 million euros ($995 million), they said on Tuesday, one of Germany's biggest property deals this year.

** Roche said on Tuesday it would acquire San Jose, California-based Ariosa Diagnostics Inc, a molecular diagnostics firm that makes a prenatal test to assess the risk of Down's syndrome and other genetic abnormalities. Financial details were not disclosed.

** Deutsche Bank is in talks to sell its stake in London hedge fund Arrowgrass Capital Partners to private equity firm Foundation Capital Partners, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

** South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said on Tuesday that it would sell its fiber optics business to U.S. glass panel supplier Corning Inc, without disclosing terms of the sale.

Belgian metals and recycling group Umicore said on Tuesday it had agreed to buy all shares of Italian company Todini and Co it did not already own for an undisclosed sum. [IDL:nL6N0TM0T9]

** Norway's Opera Software has bought South African mobile advertising network AdVine for an undisclosed sum, the company said on Tuesday.

** Symphony Communication Services LLC, a financial industry instant messaging company backed by Goldman Sachs Group Inc and other big banks, said it bought the open messaging business of financial information provider Markit Ltd. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

** German industrial robots maker Kuka AG said it was aiming for a full takeover of Swiss logistics group Swisslog Holding AG after well over 80 percent of the company's shares were tendered in a public offer.

** The United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced the merger of a number of state-controlled defence companies to create an integrated services and manufacturing business called Emirates Defence Industries Company.

** Germany's Hapag-Lloyd said it had received the last outstanding regulatory approvals for its planned merger with Chilean shipper Compania SudAmericana de Vapores, clearing the way for the two companies to be formally combined.

** A Malaysian subsidiary of South African insurer Sanlam is selling its general insurance business to a unit of Toronto-listed Fairfax Financial Holdings to comply with local law.

** Sanofi SA has entered into exclusive talks to transfer its Toulouse research and development site to German rival Evotec AG, the French drugmaker said.

** GTECH will carry on with a planned merger with U.S.-based International Game Technology after dissenting shareholders, representing less than 20 percent of the Italian game group's capital, exercised their right to sell their shares back to GTECH.

** Utility Fortum plans to take up to a 15 percent stake in the Fennovoima nuclear project in a move that would satisfy a government call for Finnish firms to own at least 60 percent of it.

** Portugal's Millennium BCP may wait until the end of this year before deciding whether to sell part of its stake in Polish lender Bank Millennium to boost its capital, two financial sources told Reuters.

** BPCE, France's second-biggest retail bank, said it is selling a 4 percent stake in French real estate group Nexity via a share placement on the market.

** General Electric Capital Corp has decided to sell 1.47 million shares, a 1.9 percent stake, in its Polish subsidiary Bank BPH, to increase the bank's free float on the Warsaw bourse, as agreed with the Polish financial regulator KNF, BPH said.

** The board of Telecom Italia will unlikely meet before Christmas to discuss options in Brazil, its chairman said on Tuesday, as the Italian phone group is examining a possible tie-up with Brazilian telecoms operator Oi.