The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 1330 GMT on Wednesday:

** Grocery chain operator Kroger Co said it would explore strategic alternatives, including a potential sale, for its convenience stores business in the United States.

** German luxury automaker BMW is looking to form a joint venture with Great Wall Motor, a source familiar with the matter said.

** A group of six Chinese independent oil refiners set up a 33 billion yuan ($5 billion) joint venture to compete with state-owned giants and the rise of private chemical giants, a senior executive at one of the partners said.

** South African miner Exxaro Resources said it had completed its sale of 22.4 million shares in U.S. titanium products company Tronox with net proceeds of $474 million.

** Brazilian energy conglomerate Cosan SA Industria e Comercio agreed to pay its partner Royal Dutch Shell Plc 1.16 billion reais ($365 million) for a 16.8 percent stake in gas distribution company Companhia de Gas de Sao Paulo, or Comgas.

** Russian tycoons Mikhail Prokhorov and Viktor Vekselberg have sold a 3 percent stake in Russian aluminum giant Rusal via an accelerated bookbuilding (ABB) for $315 million, one of their bookrunners said.

** Buyout group BC Partners has agreed to buy German industrial ceramics group Ceramtec from peer investor Cinven , the groups said.

** KKR & Co LP has raised its offer price for Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc to 2,900 yen a share from 2,503 yen, the Japanese firm said, after a U.S. hedge fund put pressure on the private equity firm to revise terms.

** Bharti Airtel Ltd, India's top telecom operator, said it had partnered with handset maker Karbonn Mobiles to introduce a 4G-enabled smartphone at the price of a feature phone.

** Qatar National Bank's stake in UAE-based Commercial Bank International is not for sale, a spokesman for QNB told Reuters. (Compiled by Arunima Banerjee in Bengaluru)