(Adds Qualcomm, Luxottica , Brunswick, Blackstone (NYSE:BX), Freenet , CVC, TalkTalk, JBS SA, Tata Steel ; Updates Novartis )
June 29 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 2000 GMT on Friday:
** Novartis NOVN.S plans to spin off its Alcon eye care business to shareholders and buy back up to $5 billion in stock as Chief Executive Vas Narasimhan refocuses the Swiss group on prescription drugs. U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm Inc QCOM.O extended the tender offer for its proposed $44 billion deal to buy NXP Semiconductors NV NXPI.O for the 29th time as it awaits clearance from the Chinese government. French lens manufacturer Essilor ESSI.PA and Italian eyewear Luxottica LUX.MI have extended a deadline for their planned merger to July 31 as the Chinese competition authority has not yet approved the transaction. Boat maker Brunswick Corp BC.N said it would buy the global marine and mobile business of Power Products LLC for $910 million in cash, adding 11 brands including wire and cable supplier Ancor and ProMariner battery chargers for boats. Japan's Osaka Gas 9532.T says it has agreed with Sabine Oil & Gas Corp SABN.PK and its subsidiary to buy a working interest in a shale gas project in Texas for about 16 billion yen ($144.53 million). German independent telecoms company Freenet FNTGn.DE will acquire 9 percent of Ceconomy CECG.DE via a rights issue, helping the consumer electronics retailer to strengthen its balance sheet after a recent Russian deal. A consortium of investment funds controlled by CVC Capital Partners has agreed to buy 51.8 percent of Italian pharmaceutical group Recordati RECI.MI in a deal worth about 3 billion euros ($3.5 billion). British broadband operator TalkTalk TALK.L scrapped a plan to sell its direct business-to-business unit to Daisy Group. Brazil meatpacker JBS SA JBSS3.SA said the company has no knowledge of a possible sale of the stake held by development bank BNDES, after a magazine website reported negotiations. The works council of Tata Steel's Dutch division gave its support to the planned merger of the European activities of Tata Steel TISC.NS and Thyssenkrupp TKAG.DE . India's insurance regulator has allowed the country's largest state-run insurer Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) to buy a stake of up to 51 percent in state-owned lender IDBI Bank, according to media reports. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc (NYSE:TMO) TMO.N , the world's largest maker of scientific instruments, said it would buy IT services provider Roper Technologies Inc's ROP.N unit Gatan Inc for about $925 million in cash. Speciality chemicals company Elementis Plc ELM.L said it would buy Mondo Minerals from U.S. private equity firm Advent International for an enterprise value of $600 million to expand into talc additives used in a range of products from plastics to cosmetics. AccorHotels ACCP.PA , Europe's biggest hotels group, will buy a 50 percent stake in U.S. hospitality mogul Sam Nazarian's upmarket SBE Entertainment Group, in a deal that will see Accor invest a total of $319 million in SBE. Australian iron ore miner Atlas Iron AGO.AX endorsed a A$390 million ($287 million) buyout from billionaire Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting, taking the mining heiress closer to securing two key shipping berths in the west of the country. Alaska Gasline Development Corp is preparing an equity offering for this summer and is open to partnering with a major energy firm on the development of its costly Alaska LNG export terminal and pipeline project, an executive said. Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) VZ.N is shutting down its mobile video service go90 less than three years after it launched, a company spokeswoman said. British private equity firm TDR Capital and U.S. real estate investment group Starwood Capital have been given more time to make takeover offers for IWG IWG.L , the London-listed serviced office provider. Japanese financial services firm Orix Corp 8591.T has purchased Peak Utility Services, a U.S. infrastructure maintenance provider, for an unspecified amount, the Nikkei newspaper reported. India's Fortis Healthcare FOHE.NS extended the date to submit binding bids for the cash-strapped hospital chain to July 3, the second time since it said it would start a fresh round of bidding.