Wed May 21, 2014 6:00am EDT
<span id="articleText"/>May 21 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 1000 GMT on Wednesday:
<span id="midArticle_0"/><span id="midArticle_1"/>** Goldman Sachs has begun a formal process to sell the metals warehousing business it purchased four years ago, a spokesman said on Tuesday, disclosing the first definitive effort to shed the operation amid regulatory and political pressure. The Wall Street firm, one of the few major global banks that has not retreated from commodity markets in recent months, decided to explore a sale after receiving interest from potential buyers, the spokesman said in an email to Reuters.
<span id="midArticle_2"/><span id="midArticle_3"/>** ConAgra Foods Inc, Cargill Inc and CHS Inc won U.S. antitrust approval on Tuesday to merge their North American flour mill operations after agreeing to sell four mills to a Japanese company. The companies had announced in March 2013 that ConAgra would join Horizon Milling, a joint venture of Cargill and CHS Inc that is the largest flour miller in America.
<span id="midArticle_4"/><span id="midArticle_5"/>** Clayton, Dubilier & Rice LLC is in advanced talks to acquire wound care company Healogics Inc from private equity peer Metalmark Capital Holdings LLC for around $1 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. CD&R has so far outbid other private equity firms in the auction for Healogics, including TPG Capital LP and a consortium of Ares Management LP and Leonard Green & Partners LP, the people said this week.
<span id="midArticle_6"/><span id="midArticle_7"/>** Newly elected Indian premier Narendra Modi is exploring breaking up state behemoth Coal India Ltd and opening up the sector to foreign investment to boost output and cut imports, said two sources with knowledge of the matter. Red tape, strikes, protests against land acquisition and delays in obtaining environmental approvals have kept coal output far below demand, making India the world's No.3 importer even though it sits on the fifth-largest reserves.
<span id="midArticle_8"/><span id="midArticle_9"/>** Germany's Siemens wrote to Alstom on Tuesday asking for more information ahead of a likely offer for the French company's power business, French Economy Minister Arnaud Montebourg said. Alstom is already in talks with U.S. conglomerate General Electric over a 12.35 billion euro ($16.9 billion) bid for its power arm, which it is due to review by June 2. Under pressure from the French government, however, it has opened its books to Siemens as well.
<span id="midArticle_10"/><span id="midArticle_11"/>** Russia's Norilsk Nickel, the world's largest nickel and palladium producer, has agreed to sell its Australian nickel assets Avalon and Cawse to investment firm Wingstar, the Russian company said.
<span id="midArticle_12"/><span id="midArticle_13"/>** Private equity firm Warburg Pincus LLC is close to a deal to acquire Wencor Group LLC, a manufacturer of commercial aircraft parts, for between $800 million and $900 million, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
<span id="midArticle_14"/><span id="midArticle_15"/>** Pakistan's central bank has given Meezan Bank Ltd approval "in-principle" to purchase the local banking business of HSBC, the sharia-compliant lender said in a bourse filing. The statement did not give a price for the deal, which still requires shareholder approval and final consent by the regulator.
<span id="midArticle_0"/><span id="midArticle_1"/>** Nippon Life Insurance Co said it agreed to buy a 20 percent stake in Indonesia's Sequis Life for 4.87 trillion rupiah ($423.9 million), joining its Japanese peers who are expanding in rapidly growing Southeast Asian markets.
<span id="midArticle_2"/><span id="midArticle_3"/>** China's Sinopec Group said it agreed with U.S.-listed Weatherford International to form a joint venture oilfield service company.
<span id="midArticle_4"/><span id="midArticle_5"/>** The Czech central bank approved investment group PPF's mandatory buyout offer price for shares of Telefonica Czech Republic, it said in a document posted on its website.
<span id="midArticle_6"/><span id="midArticle_7"/>** CVC Capital Partners Ltd has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Hong Kong-based serviced office provider The Executive Centre Ltd from Headland Capital Partners.
<span id="midArticle_8"/><span id="midArticle_9"/>** Law firm leaders at Patton Boggs in Washington, D.C., were tallying votes on Tuesday on a proposed merger with Squire Sanders, a deal that is expected to be approved and that would provide financial relief to struggling Patton Boggs. While votes submitted by partners of the 300-lawyer Patton Boggs were still being counted, three sources close to the deal said it was widely expected that the partnership would approve the proposed merger. ($1 = 11487.5 Indonesian rupiah) (Compiled by Natalie Grover in Bangalore)
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