March 29 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 1030 GMT on Thursday:
** Major oil companies will gather in Rio de Janeiro to vie for stakes in offshore blocks near Brazil's coveted pre-salt oil play, even after a court tossed the top two areas out of the running. Renault RENA.PA shares rose sharply, with traders attributing the gain to a Bloomberg News report that Renault SA and Nissan 7201.T are in talks to merge and create a new automaker that trades as a single stock. Fujifilm Holdings 4901.T said it would buy two biotechnology units of Japan's JXTG Holdings Inc 5020.T for about $800 million, as it looks to boost its healthcare business. Sky's Italian unit SKYB.L has signed a deal with broadband company Open Fiber that will allow it to stream programs and offer high-speed broadband services, a source close to the matter said. Daimler DAIGn.DE and BMW's BMWG.DE new joint mobility services division aims to become a global player through both organic growth and acquisitions, Daimler Chief Financial Officer Bodo Uebber said. Greece's National Bank (NBG) NBGr.AT said that a potential deal to sell a 75 percent stake of its wholly-owned insurance subsidiary to EXIN Financial Services Holding had expired a day earlier. South Africa's Gold Fields GFIJ.J said it will buy a 50 percent stake in Asanko Gold Inc's AKG.TO Ghana subsidiary and take a stake in the Canadian miner in a $202.6 million deal. A potential acquisition of London-listed Shire SHP.L by Takeda Pharmaceutical 4502.T was greeted with investor scepticism about its merits, with shares in the Japanese drug maker tumbling 7 percent. China's Shanying Paper 600567.SS will become the majority owner in Boreal Bioref, a new Finnish company which is building a pulp mill in northern Finland, Boreal said. Japan's SoftBank Group Corp 9984.T is looking to buy a 25 percent stake in Swiss Re AG SRENH.S worth about $9.6 billion as the firms' talks over a potential deal advance, Bloomberg reported. Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board has approved Unibail-Rodamco's UNBP.AS proposed $16 billion buy-out of shopping mall giant Westfield Corp WFD.AX , the companies said. India's JSW Steel Ltd JSTL.NS said it agreed to buy Acero Junction Holdings for $80.85 million, as it looks to expand its operations in the United States. The three-month battle for GKN (LON:GKN) will be decided when the deadline for shareholders to accept Melrose Industries' 8 billion pound ($11.25 billion) hostile bid expires, ending one of the most closely-contested takeover fights in Britain for years. Shares in Italian publisher Gedi Gruppo Editoriale GEDI.MI rose sharply after a media report French entrepreneur Xavier Niel was interested in the company. U.S. judge Richard Leon on Wednesday warned attorneys for the Department of Justice and AT&T Inc (NYSE:T) T.N to speed up the trial over the proposed merger of the large telecommunications company and Time Warner Inc (NYSE:TWX) TWX.N , or risk missing the June 21 deadline to complete the deal. ($1 = 0.7111 pounds)