March 1 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers,acquisitions and disposals were reported by 1100 GMT onThursday:
** The European Commission approved the 48-billion-euro($58.5 billion) merger of eyewear groups Luxottica LUX.MI andEssilor ESSI.PA without setting conditions, saying the mergerwould not harm competition. U.S. private equity firm Advent International has agreedto buy British electronics and technology business Laird LRD.L , the firms said, valuing it at around 1.2 billion pounds($1.65 billion) including debt. Jabal Omar Development Co. 4250.SE , one of SaudiArabia's largest listed property developers, expects to finaliseits merger deal with Umm Al Qura Development and Construction in2018, a senior company executive told Reuters. Australia's competition regulator has raised concernsabout a planned $1.0 billion takeover of Murray GoulburnCo-operative MGC.AX by Canada's Saputo Inc SAP.TO ,threatening a deal Australia's largest dairy processor says iskey to its survival. Brazil antitrust watchdog Cade on Wednesday rejected thebid by Ultragaz Participações Ltda, a distributor of liquefiedpetroleum gas (LPG), to buy rival Liquigas Distribuidora SA, asubsidiary of state-controlled oil company Petroleo BrasileiroSA PETR4.SA .