(Adds Bayer, Acacia Mining; Updates Generali)
July 9 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 2000 GMT on Tuesday:
** Tanzania’s largest gold miner Acacia Mining Plc said it is worth more than a buyout proposal by majority shareholder Barrick Gold Corp values it at, and extended the deadline for a firm bid to July 19.
** Bayer has approached U.S. drug firm Elanco Animal Health to discuss a possible combination of their pet-health businesses to create an industry giant, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
** International Business Machines Corp said it has closed its $34 billion acquisition of software company Red Hat Inc as it looks to ramp up its cloud computing business.
** Network gear maker Cisco Systems Inc said it would buy optical component maker Acacia Communications Inc for $2.84 billion in cash.
** Italy’s Generali has entered exclusive negotiations to buy Portuguese insurer Tranquilidade in a deal to boost its presence in Portugal, two sources familiar with the matter said.
** ABB will pay up to $470 million to hand over its loss-making solar inverter business to Italy’s FIMER SpA, the first big move by interim CEO Peter Voser and a reflection of the tough conditions in the solar industry.
** Czech-based Sazka Group has launched a bid to take full control of Greece’s OPAP, Europe’s fourth-largest betting firm by revenue.
** Italy’s biggest bank by assets, UniCredit, plans to review its corporate structure and could ring-fence its foreign operations from its systematically risky home market, two sources said.
** Bank of Yokohama and Chiba Bank Ltd are considering a business tie-up, the banks said, after the Nikkei newspaper reported that the two regional lenders would form a comprehensive partnership.
** London-based asset manager Sarasin & Partners has sold nearly 20% of its holdings in Royal Dutch Shell, saying the oil and gas company’s spending plans are out of synch with international targets to battle climate change.
** Hungarian information technology company 4iG has signed a preliminary deal to buy its bigger rival T-Systems, which is owned by Magyar Telekom.
** Singapore Exchange said it will invest in locally-based fintech company Smartkarma, tapping its investment research network.
** Brazilian state-owned oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA has reached an agreement with anti-trust regulator Cade to sell off a series of natural gas transportation and distribution assets, the company said in an exchange filing on Monday. (Compiled by Soundarya J and Aakash Jagadeesh Babu in Bengaluru)
