(Adds Twitter (N:TWTR), Liberty Global, FireEye, Synaptics, The Medicines Co, Entertainment One and EEX)
Jan 20 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 2200 GMT on Wednesday:
** Rupert Murdoch's News Corp NWSA.O said rumors about the company's interest in buying microblogging site Twitter Inc TWTR.N or building a stake in it were untrue. Royal Dutch Shell Plc's RDSa.L acquisition target BG Group BG.L beat its 2015 production target, it said on Wednesday, days before shareholder meetings to vote on a $47 billion deal that is expected to go through in coming weeks. U.S. cable group Liberty Global LBTYA.O is set to secure EU approval for its 1.3-billion-euro ($1.4 billion) bid for KPN's KPN.AS Belgian unit after pledging to divest assets to boost a rival, two people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. FireEye Inc FEYE.O said it paid $200 million to buy privately held iSight Partners, in a move to boost its cyber intelligence offerings for governments and businesses as the sector consolidates. Synaptics Inc SYNA.O is moving closer to a deal with a Chinese investment group that values the touchscreen chip maker at more than $110 per share, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The Medicines Co's MDCO.O ongoing strategic review has produced bidders interested primarily in a few key company assets, although the discussions could still lead to a sale of the entire company, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. Staples Inc SPLS.O said it would give itself three more months before calling off its proposed $6.3 billion acquisition of Office Depot Inc ODP.O , giving the companies time to fight an antitrust lawsuit with the Federal Trade Commission. Mellanox Technologies Ltd's MLNX.O $811 million acquisition of EZchip Semiconductor EZCH.TA will add to its revenue and net profit immediately, its chief executive said on Wednesday. U.S. activist hedge fund Livermore Partners is calling on Canadian and UK media firm Entertainment One ETO.L to slow down its pace of dealmaking and improve its cash flow, the fund's top executive said. Germany's European Energy Exchange (EEX) signed a deal on Wednesday to take a controlling stake in the Prague-based Power Exchange Central Europe (PXE), giving Europe's leading energy bourse a foothold in central and southeastern Europe. India's JSW Energy Ltd JSWE.NS said it expected to announce a deal by February to buy a thermal power plant as discussions continue for two such plants. Saudi Aramco said on Wednesday it was in advanced talks to invest in refineries in China and the company was also in talks with CNPC and Sinopec for investment opportunities in refining, marketing and petrochemicals. Adecco ADEN.VX , the world's largest staffing group, plans no transformational acquisitions, it said on Wednesday, declining to comment on a Daily Mail report on rumors of a deal to buy British recruitment company Hays HAYS.L . A legal protest by Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd CP.TO over a meeting among big U.S. railroads about mergers in their industry has highlighted maneuvering in the sector to cope with a rapid downturn and possible consolidation. Leidos Holdings Inc LDOS.N is nearing a deal to merge with the government information technology and services businesses being shed by Lockheed Martin Corp (N:LMT) LMT.N in a deal that could value these assets at around $5 billion, people familiar with the matter said. EWE LANDWE.UL , Germany's fifth-largest utility by sales, has hundreds of millions of euros for potential takeovers, its new chief executive said, boosted by the sale of its stake in gas firm VNG VNG.UL late last year. The European Commission will play no part in the screening of any tie-up between Orange ORAN.PA and Bougyues' BOUY.PA telecom division, leaving the issue to France's competition authority, according to three sources close to the matter. Spain's Banco Popular POP.MC is considering selling up to 8 billion euros ($8.7 billion) worth of real estate assets in 2016 to reshape its balance sheet, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. Spanish infrastructure company Ferrovial FER.MC confirmed its takeover offer for Australian detention center firm Broadspectrum BRS.AX on Wednesday, saying the offer was more attractive in the current environment. France's Aeroports de Paris SA ADP.PA has emerged as the front-runner to buy a 20 percent stake in Airports Corp of Vietnam (ACV), after an official confirmed Changi Airport International had failed at the application stage. Danish company NKT Holding NKT.CO has appointed investment bank JP Morgan Chase (N:JPM) & Co JPM.N to look at the possibility of selling NKT Cables, its largest business, Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten said on Wednesday. Copenhagen-based Saxo Bank said it had signed a deal with BlackRock BLK.N , the world's largest money manager, to use investment portfolios based on BlackRock's exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Elmrox Investment Group LLC, one of the largest shareholders of Ashland Inc ASH.N , is urging the chemical maker to halt plans to spin off its Valvoline business and instead seek a buyer for its specialty-chemicals unit, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a presentation it reviewed. Global mining firm Anglo American AAL.L will sell its Callide coal mine in Australia to Batchfire Resources, it said on Wednesday. Antivirus software maker Symantec Corp SYMC.O said on Tuesday it would receive $1 billion less in cash for its data storage unit Veritas from Carlyle Group LP CG.O , cutting the price of the biggest leveraged buyout of 2015 after debt backing the deal failed to sell.