(Adds Hershey, Lions Gate, Newmont Nusa Tenggar, Superior Plus, News Corp, Dick's Sporting, Carmike, Safran , Novo Banco, InterOil and Mylan)
June 30 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 2000 GMT on Thursday:
** Hershey Co HSY.N said on Thursday it had rejected a $23 billion preliminary offer by Mondelez International Inc MDLZ.O that would seek to expand the latter's limited U.S. footprint and create the world's largest confectioner. Lions Gate Entertainment Corp LGF.N , the film studio behind the Hunger Games movies, said Thursday it would buy premium television network Starz STRZA.O for $4.4 billion in cash and stock, in a deal that would unite two media companies with ties to cable mogul John Malone. Airbus Group AIR.PA and Safran SAF.PA pledged on Thursday to make Europe competitive in the face of U.S. low-cost rival SpaceX as they completed a deal to merge their space launcher activities. South Africa's Competition Tribunal granted conditional approval for the proposed merger of about $100 billion by brewer Anheuser-Busch Inbev ABI.BR and SABMiller SAB.L , the antitrust authority said on Thursday. An Indonesian investor group consisting of oil and gas tycoon Arifin Panigoro and banker Agus Projosasmito will spend $2.6 billion to buy 82.2 percent of Newmont Nusa Tenggara (NNT), which operates Indonesia's second-biggest copper and gold mine. Canadian chemical maker Superior Plus Corp SPB.TO said it scrapped the acquisition of rival Canexus Corp CUS.TO as they could not agree on terms, two days after the C$324 million ($251 million) deal was approved by Canada's antitrust regulator. Japan's anti-monopoly regulator has approved Canon Inc's 7751.T acquisition of Toshiba Corp's 6502.T medical equipment unit, but issued a warning over the way they carried out the deal, which antitrust experts have called questionable. Dick's Sporting Goods Inc DKS.N , the largest U.S. sporting goods retailer, is set to win the auction for the intellectual property of bankrupt competitor Sports Authority with a bid of $15 million, according to people familiar with the matter. Rupert Murdoch's News Corp NWSA.O has agreed to buy the owner of Britain's talkSPORT in a $292 million deal that unites The Sun newspaper's sports coverage with the commercial radio network that broadcasts Premier League and FA Cup soccer. Hungarian drugmaker Richter GDRB.BU said it had acquired Swiss biotech company Finox Holding for 190 million Swiss francs ($194 million), expanding its presence in major European markets. Theater chain Carmike Cinemas Inc CKEC.O dropped Thursday's shareholder vote on its proposed sale to AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc AMC.N , saying it was adjourning until next month and throwing the $1.1 billion deal into doubt. French aerospace group Safran SAF.PA , which is selling its Morpho biometrics and security business, has narrowed the field to a shortlist of five bidders including digital security rivals Gemalto (AS:GTO) and Oberthur, a person familiar with the matter said. Motoring group AA Plc AAAA.L said it had agreed to sell its Irish business to a Carlyle Group CG.O fund and financial services buyout team for 156.6 million euros ($173.7 million). Portugal's central bank received four offers for Novo Banco, the "good bank" successor to Banco Espirito Santo after a state rescue in 2014, by the Thursday afternoon deadline, it said in a statement, without naming the institutions. British private equity firm 3i III.L has no plans to dispose of its investment in Dutch discount retailer Action despite a number of approaches, the company said on Thursday. U.S. generic drugmaker Mylan NV MYL.O has offered concessions in a bid to allay concerns by EU competition regulators over its proposed $7.2-billion acquisition of Swedish rival Meda MEDAa.ST , the European Commission said on Thursday. InterOil Corp IOC.N , which agreed last month to be acquired by Australia's Oil Search Ltd OSH.AX , said it received an unsolicited offer from an unnamed bidder, with whom it would engage in further talks. Unions representing workers at Brazil's state-led Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras SA ELET6.SA intend to fight government plans to sell some of the cash-strapped electricity-utility holding company's businesses.