Deals of the day- Mergers and acquisitions

(Adds Lorillard, Unilever, FTI, Voestalpine, Yu)

March 3 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 2100 GMT on Monday:

** U.S. tobacco company RJ Reynolds Href="NewsSearch">RAITH.UL is exploring a bid for rival Lorillard Inc LO.N , the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the situation. The deal value is expected to be in excess of $20 billion, the paper reported. News Search ID:nL3N0M053N

** Men's Wearhouse Inc MW.N said it was discussing a proposed merger with smaller rival Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc

JOSB.O , after the two men's apparel retailers spent months bidding for each other. The companies have entered a non-disclosure agreement to exchange some confidential information and to work in good faith to evaluate a potential combination, Men's Wearhouse said. News Search ID:nL3N0M03WD

** Darden Restaurants Inc DRI.N , the largest U.S. operator of full-service restaurants, said it would proceed with its plan to spin off or sell its Red Lobster chain, rebuffing two activist investment firms that had urged the company to take other actions to boost results, including selling real estate.

News Search ID:nL3N0M03U1

** Consumer goods company Unilever Plc ULVR.L is seeking bidders for its Ragu pasta sauce business, which could fetch as much as $2 billion, Bloomberg said, citing unnamed sources.

News Search ID:nL6N0M0388

** Minerals Technologies MTX.N raised its offer for U.S. minerals and materials group Amcol International Corp ACO.N for the second time to $45 per share, or $1.46 billion.

News Search ID:nL3N0M0471

** Swiss pharma group Novartis NOVN.VX will work more closely with rival Roche ROG.VX but rules out a merger, its chairman said in a newspaper interview on Sunday.

News Search ID:nL6N0LZ0AG

** TGI Fridays, the global casual dining restaurant chain known for its red-striped canopies and memorabilia-rich decor, is in advanced talks to sell itself to buyout firm TriArtisan Capital Partners, people familiar with the matter said on Friday. News Search ID:nL1N0LX1VK

** A consortium led by Abu Dhabi National Energy Co (TAQA)

TAQA.AD has agreed to buy two Indian hydroelectric power plants from Jaiprakash Power Ventures JAPR.NS in a deal worth about $1.6 billion, TAQA said on Sunday. The group will spend $616 million on equity in the plants and take over their non-recourse project debt, bringing the total enterprise value to around $1.6 billion, a TAQA spokesman told Reuters.

News Search ID:nL6N0LZ01U

** Tyco International Ltd TYC.N , a maker of fire safety and security systems, said it would sell its South Korean security business to private equity firm Carlyle Group CG.O for $1.93 billion and take a charge in the second quarter.

News Search ID:nL3N0M03HL

** UIL Holdings Corp UIL.N said it would buy Philadelphia Gas Works, the largest municipally owned natural gas utility in the United States, for $1.86 billion in cash to expand its natural gas distribution operations. News Search ID:nL3N0M03NH

** Russia's largest oil company, Rosneft ROSN.MM , could buy Ukraine's Odessa oil refinery, which has been secured by Russian state bank VTB VTBR.MM due to the outstanding debts of the former owner, Kommersant newspaper reported. News Search ID:nL6N0M00OL

** Nigeria will accept offers from 42 prequalified bidders for 10 state-owned power plants on March 7, the privatization agency said, in a continuation of one of President Goodluck Jonathan's most important policies. Private buyers took ownership of the bulk of the state electricity company in September, ending a slow and costly $2.5 billion selloff, which nonetheless could be the best chance yet to unblock a major bottleneck to development. News Search ID:nL6N0M01LT

** French carmaker Peugeot PSA PEUP.PA would not consider selling its 51.7 percent holding in parts supplier Faurecia

EPED.PA as part of its profitability plan, the company's new chief executive, Carlos Tavares, said. News Search ID:nL6N0M01XA

** Beijing Capital Group Href="NewsSearch">BEJINX.UL will buy New Zealand's biggest waste management firm from Australia's Transpacific Industries Group Ltd TPI.AX for almost $800 million, enabling the Chinese state-owned company to acquire technology that could help combat chronic pollution in the capital and beyond.

News Search ID:nL3N0M050K

** Egyptian billionaire Samih Sawiris is taking a stake of 25 percent to 35 percent in FTI, Germany's fourth-biggest tour operator, the two parties said. News Search ID:nL6N0M03ND

** Austrian steel group Voestalpine VOES.VI has hired ABN AMRO to review strategic options for Dutch unit Flamco, part of the group's metal forming division, it said. News Search ID:nWEB00JL1

** Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) MAHB.KL started its $306-million share sale, seeking to raise funds to buy a 40 percent stake in Istanbul's Sabiha Gokcen airport from India's GMR Group. The company is offering 124.05 million new shares, or 10 percent of its existing share capital, to institutional investors in an indicative price range of 7.70 ringgit to 8.10 ringgit per share, according to a term sheet seen by Reuters.

News Search ID:nL3N0M03FS

** Singapore's Tiger Airways Holdings Ltd TAHL.SI may be forced out of Indonesia, Southeast Asia's biggest domestic airline market, as its unprofitable joint venture is squeezed out of routes dominated by big-spending local carriers. Tiger might sell or close Tigerair Mandala in the absence of any signs of the airline turning around this year, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. News Search ID:nL3N0M01PZ

** Ventilation maker Systemair SYSR.ST has sold its 11.6 percent stake in fellow Swedish building components firm Lindab

LIAB.ST for 660 million Swedish crowns ($103.03 million), and will invest the proceeds elsewhere, the company said.

News Search ID:nL6N0M0223

** Ion Investments, a subsidiary of Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings Href="NewsSearch">TEM.UL , could raise as much as $176 million through the sale of 4.1 million shares in Seoul Semiconductor Co Ltd M046890.KQ , IFR reported. News Search ID:nL3N0M02QQ

** Hedge fund managers George Soros and John Paulson have both taken a 92 million euro ($127 million) stake in a new Spanish property investment vehicle called Hispania, the Financial Times reported on Saturday, citing sources close to the deal. News Search ID:nL6N0LY0F4

** Veteran food industry investor C. Dean Metropoulos is seeking a new owner for Pabst Brewing Co, best known for blue collar-turned-hipster favorite Pabst Blue Ribbon label, people familiar with the matter said. Los Angeles-based Pabst beer and malt liquor labels also include Schlitz and Old Milwaukee.

News Search ID:nL1N0LY0F7

** French holding company Wendel MWDP.PA said it invested an additional $152 million in African mobile telecommunications infrastructure provider IHS Holding as part of a $420 million capital increase. News Search ID:nWEB00JIF

** Kenya's two biggest telecoms operators, Safaricom Ltd

SCOM.NR and the local unit of Bharti Airtel Ltd BRTI.NS , have made a joint bid for the smallest operator, Indian group Essar Coomunications' Yu, the Communications Commission of Kenya said. The industry regulator said it had received applications from the two firms to allow the transaction that will see them spend a combined $100 million. News Search ID:nL6N0M0399

** Al-Futtaim Group is close to taking control of Kenyan car retailer CMC Holdings CMC.NR , after 91 percent of shareholders accepted its 7.6 billion shilling ($87.91 million) offer, the Dubai-based company said. News Search ID:nL6N0M01S0

** Kenyan sisal p

roducer Rea Vipingo's REA.NR majority shareholder, REA Trading, has raised its offer to buy the rest of the company's shares by 75 percent. REA Trading said in a statement that it had proposed to buy the shares at 70 shillings each, higher than its original offer of 40 shillings a share in November. News Search ID:nL6N0M01OG

** An investment fund managed by billionaire financier George Soros has bought 5 percent of cooperative Italian shopping center group Immobiliare Grande Distribuzione (IGD)

IGD.MI , signaling confidence in a sector hit hard by a deep recession. Quantum Strategic Partners, managed by Soros Fund Management, on Monday bought about 3.15 percent of IGD from the company and the rest from second-largest shareholder Unicoop Tirreno, becoming the company's third-biggest investor.

News Search ID:nL6N0M018D

** Singapore's Tiger Airways Ltd TAHL.SI aims to sell or close its Indonesian joint venture unless there are signs of it turning around this year, people familiar with the matter said.

News Search ID:nL3N0M0180

** South Korean fashion conglomerate E-Land Group is not interested in buying U.S. apparel chain J.Crew Group Inc and has not considered it in the past, a spokesman for E-Land said.

News Search ID:nL3N0LZ0ND

** Dubai based rig-maker Lamprell LAM.L said it sold its International Inspection Services (INSPEC) division to Intertek

ITRK.L for $66.2 million to reduce its debt and focus on its core business. News Search ID:nASM0005UY

** Johnson Service Group Plc JSG.L , which rents and dry cleans uniforms and other textiles, reported a 25 percent rise in full-year profit due to the strong performance of its rental unit, and said it would buy Bourne Services Group Ltd, a hotel linen supplier, for about 22 million pounds ($37 million) in cash.

($1 = 1.1901 New Zealand dollars)

($1 = 0.7240 euros)

($1 = 0.5967 British pounds)

($1 = 86.4500 Kenyan shillings)

(Compiled by Natalie Grover and Shivani Mody)

((natalie.grover@thomsonreuters.com)(within U.S. +1 646 223 8780, outside U.S. +91 99 1694 7070)(Reuters Messaging:)(natalie.grover.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))

Keywords: DEALS DAY/