(Adds Development Partners International, Willis Towers WatsonPLC, Elliott Management; Updates Merck, Lordstown Motors Corp,Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund)
Sept 30 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers,acquisitions and disposals were reported by 2000 GMT onThursday:
** Merck & Co
MRK.N
is buying Acceleron Pharma Inc XLRN.Ofor about $11.5 billion, broadening its portfolio beyond agingcancer drug Keytruda with potential treatments that could bringin fresh revenue.
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** Swedish cloud communication services provider Sinch
SINCH.ST
said it had agreed to buy cloud-based email deliveryplatform Pathwire in a cash-and-stock deal worth about $1.9billion.
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** Albemarle Corp
ALB.N
said it would buy China-basedGuangxi Tianyuan New Energy Materials Co Ltd, a lithiumconverter, for about $200 million as the company looks toincrease its lithium conversion capacity.
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** U.S. private equity firm Apollo Global Management
APO.N
said funds managed by its affiliates will buy MitsubishiChemical's
4188.T
thermal and emission control protectionmaterials business.
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** Cairo-based financial group EFG Hermes
HRHO.CA
isnegotiating to buy a stake in privately held Spanish powergeneration company Ignis Energia, Expansion newspaper said.
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** Hedge fund Elliott Management said it owns a"significant" stake in troubled Japanese industrial conglomerateToshiba Corp
6502.T
, which is conducting a strategic reviewamid pressure from other investors that could include a sale ofthe company.
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** Private equity firm Development Partners International(DPI) said it has sold about a third of its stake in Africanquick-service restaurant group Food Concepts to African CapitalAlliance (ACA), but will still own a majority of the company.
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** Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), thecountry's sovereign wealth fund, is considering selling part ofits 70% stake in Saudi Telecom Co (STC)
7010.SE
whileretaining majority ownership, the state fund said.
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** Electric vehicle startup Lordstown Motors Corp
RIDE.O
will announce the sale of the northeast Ohio assembly plant itacquired from General Motors Co
GM.N
to Taiwan contractmanufacturer Foxconn
2354.TW
, a person familiar with thematter said.
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** Activist investors Starboard Value LP and ElliottManagement Corp have taken stakes in insurance broker WillisTowers Watson PLC
WLTW.O
, the Wall Street Journal reported,citing people familiar with the matter.
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(Compiled by Rajarshi Roy, Tiyashi Datta and Shreyasee Raj inBengaluru) ((tiyashi.datta@thomsonreuters.com;))