(Adds AT&T-Time Warner, 3i (LON:III) Infrastructure, Syngenta ; updates French Connection, TD Ameritrade and Rockwell Collins (NYSE:COL) ))
Oct 24 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 2000 GMT on Monday:
** Wall Street signaled skepticism on Monday that AT&T Inc (NYSE:T) T.N would secure the government approvals needed to carry out its planned $85.4 billion acquisition of Time Warner Inc (NYSE:TWX) TWX.N , with shares of both companies falling as analysts scrutinized the deal. 3i Infrastructure 3IN.L said on Monday it had bid for French telecoms masts business FPS Towers, which owner Antin hopes could raise up to 1 billion euros, as it seeks to build its UK-focused Wireless Infrastructure Group into a European platform. Syngenta SYNN.S shares fell more than 9 percent on Monday after the European Commission triggered doubts about Chinese state-owned chemical company ChemChina's CNNCC.UL $43 billion bid for the Swiss pesticides and seeds group. American Midstream Partners LP AMID.N said it would buy JP Energy Partners LP JPEP.N in an all-stock deal, creating a $2 billion midstream master limited partnership. French Connection Group Plc FCCN.L founder Stephen Marks has dismissed a newspaper report of possible bid interest in the fashion retailer, saying there was nothing behind the article which sent its shares up more than 20 percent. TD Ameritrade AMTD.O has agreed to buy Scottrade for $2.7 billion in a deal that would bring together two of the biggest U.S. discount brokerages, but is expected to face scrutiny from regulators. a connected deal, Toronto-Dominion Bank TD.TO , TD Ameritrade's biggest shareholder, said it had agreed to buy Scottrade's banking business for $1.3 billion as it continues to ramp up its expansion in the United States.
** Aircraft electronics supplier Rockwell Collins COL.N said on Monday its $6.4 billion acquisition of interiors maker B/E Aerospace Inc BEAV.O will boost sales and spur new products, helping offset sluggish demand for equipment in new business and commercial jets. Samsung Electronics Co Ltd 005930.KS said a South Korean media report that the firm was in talks to acquire French audio equipment maker Focal for up to 300 billion won ($265.44 million) was not true. The German government has withdrawn its approval for a Chinese takeover of chip equipment maker Aixtron SE AIXGn.DE , throwing up an unexpected hurdle for a 670 million euro ($728 million) deal on the home stretch. Little-known China Oceanwide Holdings Group Co pledged $3.8 billion in a deal to take control of U.S. insurer Genworth Financial Inc (NYSE:GNW) GNW.N , the latest marker of Chinese firms accelerating a drive overseas while their domestic economy slows and the yuan weakens. Chinese aviation and shipping conglomerate HNA Group said it agreed to buy an about 25 percent stake in Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc HLT.N from Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Group LP BX.N for $6.5 billion. Four of Australia's wealthiest outback cattle families have formally lodged a A$386 million ($293 million) bid to buy cattle empire S. Kidman and Co, trumping a deal agreed with mining mogul Gina Rinehart and Chinese developer Shanghai CRED Real Estate. Berkshire Partners LLC is nearing a deal to acquire cloud networking firm Masergy, currently owned by another private equity firm, ABRY Partners, for more than $900 million, including debt according to sources familiar with the matter. Eldorado Brasil Celulose SA said that controlling shareholder J&FInvestimentos Ltda has begun talks to buy out the stakes that two Brazilian pension funds have in the pulpmaker through a series of investment vehicles.