March 8 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers,acquisitions and disposals were reported by 1100 GMT onThursday:
** U.S. health insurer Cigna Corp said it would buypharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts Holding Co ina $67 billion cash-and-stock deal, including debt.
** Malaysian conglomerate DRB-Hicom Bhd said itwas selling much of its non-industrial property assets and theentire hospitality portfolio for a total of 1.9 billion ringgit($486.31 million).
** Leading shareholders in Orbotech are holdingtalks in the United States for the sale of a controlling stakein the Israeli technology firm, TheMarker financial news websitereported.
** Uniper said it remained opposed to Fortum'splan to take a 47 percent stake in the Germanutility, adding it would be better off as a standalone companygoing forward.
** British insurer Aviva is considering acquisitionsin Poland and Turkey, its chief executive said, as it reported a2 percent rise in operating profit and said it planned to return500 million pounds ($695 million) to shareholders.
** Finnish government said it had sold Raskone, a smalltruck maintenance company, to a Finnish firm Lease Deal Groupfor 7.7 million euros ($9.5 million).
** Spain's ACS and Italy's Atlantia are intalks over their competing bid for Abertis, thecompanies said, after Spanish newspapers reported that they wereconsidering breaking up the highway concessions company.
** Premier Oil is interested in increasing its 50percent interest in the Catcher North Sea oilfield that producedfirst oil in December, Chief Executive Tony Durrant toldReuters.
** Daimler said it would deepen its cooperationwith China's BAIC Group in the area of new energyvehicles, even as rival Geely seeks to gain access tothe German carmakers' electric vehicle technologies.
** Southeast Asia's biggest ride-hailing firm, Grab, is inadvanced negotiations to buy parts of Uber Technologies Inc'sbusiness in the region, said a source with knowledge of thetalks, in what would be Uber's second retreat from an Asianmarket.
** Sanofi and Evotec said they hadstarted exclusive talks over accelerating research into thetreatment of infectious diseases, and added that they would forma new open innovation platform in this area, led by Evotec.
** South African life insurer Sanlam Ltd said aunit of its joint venture with insurer Santam Ltd wouldbuy the remaining 53.37 percent stake in SAHAM Finances for$1.05 billion.
** India will invite initial bids for a stake sale instate-run carrier Air India in the next couple ofweeks, Civil Aviation Secretary Rajiv Choubey said during anairshow in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad.
** China's CNPC said its international unit, PetroChinaInternational Co, has agreed to buy a 30-percent stake inBrazilian oil products trader TT Work, as it pushes to expandabroad.
** Nissan Motor Co said theRenault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Motors alliance had no plans to changecross-shareholding ratios of its member companies, after Reutersreported that it was in talks with Renault over acloser tie-up.
** Rent-A-Center Inc is in active talks withmultiple parties for a possible buyout, the rent-to-ownfurniture retailer said on Wednesday.
** Bicecorp SA, one of Chile's largest financialinstitutions, said on Wednesday it acquired Grupo de InversionesSuramericana's life annuity business for $230 million,in a move to boost its insurance unit's product offerings.(Compiled by Mrinalini Krothapalli in Bengaluru)
