Aug 15 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 2000 GMT on Friday:

** British construction firm Balfour Beatty has reaffirmed its rejection of a second merger proposal from rival Carillion Plc, publishing details of its doubts over the synergies achievable from any combination.

** Diversified mining company BHP Billiton declared its preference for a demerger of its aluminium, manganese and nickel assets on Friday, setting the stage for the formation of a separate business that could be worth at least $12 billion.

** Germany's Strauss Innovation, a chain of small department stores, on Friday said it had found a new owner after having sought court protection from creditors earlier this year to rescue its business.

** Private equity funds TPG, Nordic Capital, CVC and Cinven are among those to have put in first-round bids for Finnish insulation material maker Paroc, five sources familiar with the matter said on Friday.

** Germany's United Internet AG said it was investing 435 million euros ($582 million) for a 10.7 percent stake in Rocket Internet AG to cement a strategic relationship with Rocket's chief executive and founder, Oliver Samwer.

** Roche Holding AG is in talks to buy the almost 40 percent stake in Japan's Chugai Pharmaceutical Co Ltd that it does not already own for about $10 billion, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

** Canada's Alberta Investment Management Corp said on Friday it had acquired a C$520.3 million ($477 million) mortgage portfolio from the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS).

** Brightoil Petroleum Holdings Ltd, which just completed a $1.05 billion purchase of Anadarko Petroleum Corp's oilfield stakes in China, said it was seeking to make another major upstream acquisition over the next 12 months.

** Samsung Electronics Co Ltd will buy SmartThings, a startup backed by PayPal co-founder Max Levchin that helps connect household devices, one of the South Korean electronics maker's largest U.S.-startup acquisitions to date.

** Coca-Cola Co said on Thursday that it is making a cash payment of $2.15 billion for a 16.7 percent stake in Monster Beverage Corp as the world's largest soda maker seeks to expand into faster-growing categories such as energy drinks.

** Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc reported a $366 million stake in cable TV operator Charter Communications Inc in the second quarter, according to a regulatory filing made public on Thursday.

** Activist investor Carl Icahn reported a 6.6 percent stake in Gannett Co on Thursday and revealed that he planned to push the media company to split into separate print and broadcast firms before Gannett beat him to it, a regulatory filing showed.

** Brazilian juice maker Cutrale and the Safra Group, a banking and real estate conglomerate, said late on Thursday that they were "extremely disappointed" that the board of Chiquita Brands International Inc had rejected their takeover offer, adding that they were "considering all alternatives".

** Mexico's Grupo Televisa said on Thursday that it paid 8.55 billion pesos ($653.96 million) to acquire the remaining shares in Mexican cable company Cablecom it did not already own.

** German department store giant Karstadt changed hands for the second time in four years for 1 euro ($1.34), with Austrian investor Rene Benko set to restructure the loss-making chain.

Karstadt, a familiar sight in German cities and the owner of the famous KaDeWe luxury department store in Berlin, has seen its sales fall while rival chain Kaufhof gained market share.

** China's Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science and Technology Co Ltd said on Friday it was bidding to acquire a 60 percent stake in farm machinery maker Chery Heavy Industry Co Ltd for 2.09 billion yuan ($340 million).

** Two of Norway's richest men raised their stakes in Norwegian Property ASA, sending the real estate developer's share price sharply higher in expectation of a possible takeover battle.

** A subsidiary of Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) said it was in talks to buy Dublin-based aircraft leasing firm Avolon, confirming media reports that takeover discussions were under way. (Compiled by Amrutha Gayathri and Lehar Maan in