(Updates Albertsons Companies; Adds Twenty-First Century Fox, Qualcomm)
Feb 20 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 1318 GMT on Tuesday:
** Brazil's state-controlled oil company Petróleo Brasileiro SA PETR4.SA on Friday said it has sold all remaining shares it owned at sugar and ethanol group São Martinho SA SMTO3.SA for 444 million reais ($137 million), according to a securities filing. Apollo Global Management LLC APO.N has agreed to acquire a 20 percent stake in Brazilian special situations investment firm Starboard Restructuring Partners, the two firms said in a statement on Friday. The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday moved to prevent AT&T Inc (NYSE:T) T.N from arguing that politics played a role in the government's decision to stop its merger with Time Warner Inc (NYSE:TWX) TWX.N , a deal that President Donald Trump had publicly criticized. Seadrill's SDRL.OL main owner, billionaire John Fredriksen, is close to reaching a final agreement with banks, bondholders and South Korean shipyards on a financial restructuring plan, the drilling rig company said in a court filing. U.S. semiconductor company Qualcomm Inc QCOM.O should try to negotiate a sale to Broadcom Ltd AVGO.O following the latter's sweetened $121 billion offer, proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services Inc (ISS) said. Qatar National Bank (QNB) QNBK.QA , the Middle East's largest lender by assets, said it will sell a 2 percent stake in its Egyptian unit QNB Alahly QNBA.CA to comply with Cairo listing rules. Israel's banking regulator on Sunday published its final criteria for foreign and domestic entities seeking to buy credit card companies from banks that must divest them as part of a bid to boost competition. Russian businessman and lawmaker Suleiman Kerimov has reached an agreement to buy Vozrozhdenie bank VZRZ.MM from its majority owners, brothers Dmitry and Alexei Ananyev, three sources close to the deal told Reuters. Battery and technology metals developer Australian Mines Ltd AUZ.AX said on Monday it signed a deal with Korea's SK Innovation Co Ltd 096770.KS to supply cobalt sulphate and nickel sulphate from its flagship Sconi project. French supermarket retailer Casino's CASP.PA Monoprix arm has started exclusive negotiations over buying online shoe retailer Sarenza, in a deal which Casino said would further reinforce its presence in the online market. U.S. oil major ExxonMobil XOM.N has acquired 2.5 percent stake in the Azeri Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline from CIECO, a subsidiary of Itochu 8001.T , an ExxonMobil official said on Monday. Italian mid-sized bank Credito Valtellinese PCVI.MI launched on Monday a 700 million euro ($868 million) share issue, aiming to raise eight times its market value in capital to restructure. U.S.-based private equity firm Castlelake LP is in talks to take over a sugar and ethanol plant in Brazil owned by Indian company Shree Renuka Sugars Ltd SRES.NS , according to two sources familiar with the negotiations. Russian businessman Mikhail Prokhorov has agreed to sell a 6 percent stake in Russian aluminum giant Rusal 0486.HK to a consortium of investors led by billionaire Viktor Vekselberg and his partners, the consortium said on Monday. Staffing company Adecco ADEN.S said it bought U.S.-based online recruitment platform Vettery for an undisclosed sum to increase its footprint in the digital permanent recruitment market. U.S. grocery chain operator Albertsons Companies Inc said it would buy drugstore chain Rite Aid Corp RAD.N in a cash-and-stock deal to create a company with $83 billion in revenue. Rupert Murdoch's Twenty-First Century Fox FOXA.O has strengthened its offer to protect the independence of Sky's SKYB.L loss-making news channel to try to overcome regulatory concerns about Fox's takeover of the parent company. U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm Inc QCOM.O raised its offer to buy NXP Semiconductors NV NXPI.O to $127.50 per share and said it now has the backing of the shareholder group led by Elliott Management that opposed the previous proposal.