(Adds Associated British Foods, Elliott, Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE), Canadian Pacific, Bilfinger, BNP Paribas ,)
April 8 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 2000 GMT on Friday:
** Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) VZ.N is ready to make a bid for Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO)'s web business, and hopes to make a merger more successful by also making an offer for a stake in Yahoo's Japan subsidiary, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing a source familiar with the matter. The U.S. Justice Department on Friday called on a regulator to reject a voting trust Canadian Pacific CP.TO has proposed as part of its takeover bid for Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) NSC.N , saying it risked harming competition in the rail industry. French media group Vivendi VIV.PA agreed on Friday to buy the pay-TV operation of Italian broadcaster Mediaset MS.MI , completing a major step in billionaire businessman Vincent Bollore's plan to build a southern European content and video-on-demand powerhouse. U.S investment fund Elliott said on Thursday it had asked an Italian court to raise the offer price of a past takeover bid on rail signalling company Ansaldo STS STS.MI to 15 euros ($17.08) per share from 9.68 euros. Associated British Foods ABF.L , the biggest shareholder in Illovo Sugar ILVJ.J , has reached an agreement to buy the rest of the South African sugar producer for 5.6 billion rand ($370 million) after raising an earlier offer. German engineering services group Bilfinger GBFG.DE is in talks with France's Engie ENGIE.PA and buyout group EQT about a potential sale of its Building and Facility unit, people familiar with the matter said. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (NYSE:HOT) Inc HOT.N and Marriott International Inc MAR.O said on Friday their stockholders voted for Marriott's acquisition of Starwood to create the world's largest hotel company. BNP Paribas BNPP.PA has no intention of expanding its presence in Italy, the chief executive of the French bank said on Friday. Activist investor Starboard Value LP, which has an economic stake of 9.8 percent in Depomed Inc DEPO.O , in a letter criticized the drugmaker's board over corporate governance deficiencies and other matters and urged it to explore a potential sale. Nigeria plans to split state oil company NNPC into two to help ease a planned stake sale and wants to sell at least 40 percent of a newly created National Petroleum Co (NPC) in coming years, according to a draft of a long-awaited oil bill seen by Reuters. ANZ Banking Group ANZ.AX is weighing the sale of its 24 percent stake in Malaysian lender AMMB Holdings Bhd (AmBank) AMMB.KL and is also seeking to reduce its 20 percent stake in China's Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank as the Australian bank steps up efforts to exit minority stakes in Asia, people familiar with the matter said. Czech investor EPH is set to acquire Vattenfall's VATN.UL loss-making German lignite coal mines and associated power plants in Germany, three people familiar with the matter said on Friday. BM&FBovespa SA BVMF3.SA , Latin America's largest financial exchange operator, on Thursday sold its 4 percent stake in larger peer CME Group Inc (NASDAQ:CME) in a move aimed at raising funds to buy a Brazilian rival. Fairfax India Holdings Corp FIHu.TO is close to acquiring a minority stake in privately-held Indian petrochemical company Sanmar Chemicals Group via a roughly $300 million investment in the company, according to two sources familiar with the matter. Around 400 Chinese citizens have signed a letter to protest the purchase of Swiss-based seeds and pesticides company Syngenta by state-owned ChemChina, saying the deal would eventually lead to genetically modified crops being sown across swathes of the country. Hanwha Techwin 012450.KS , a defense arm of South Korean conglomerate Hanwha Group, said on Friday that it has agreed to buy its domestic peer Doosan DST for 695 billion won ($603 million). SMA Solar S92G.DE , Germany's largest solar group, is taking a 27 percent stake in Tigo Energy Inc as part of a $20 million capital increase of the Los Gatos-based group. South Africa's Illovo Sugar ILVJ.J said on Friday its largest shareholder, Associated British Foods ABF.L , has agreed to buy the remaining stake in the company for 5.6 billion rand ($370 million).