(Adds Commerzbank, La Martiniere Groupe, Siemens )
Sept 21 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 1330 GMT on Thursday:
** Alphabet Inc's GOOGL.O Google said it would pay $1.1 billion for the division at Taiwan's HTC Corp 2498.TW that develops the U.S firm's Pixel smartphones - its second major foray into phone hardware after an earlier costly failure. Japan's Toshiba Corp 6502.T is locked in last minute discussions over "key issues" with the would-be buyers of its $18 billion memory chip business led by U.S. private equity firm Bain, potentially delaying a formal agreement on the sale. Siemens SIEGn.DE is in talks to merge its rail business with that of either Alstom ALSO.PA or Bombardier BBDb.TO and will pick a preferred partner within days for further negotiations, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. Japanese chemical manufacturer Kuraray Co Ltd 3405.T will buy U.S. firm Calgon Carbon Corp CCC.N for $1.107 billion, Kuraray said, adding the carbon materials firm as one of its core businesses. Albertsons Cos Inc ABS.N , one of America's biggest supermarket chains, said it would buy meal-kit delivery service Plated, as it looks to attract more customers to its stores amid increased competition. Precious metals miner Hochschild Mining Plc HOCM.L is doubling down on efforts to find early-stage mining projects to acquire and is open to deposits that depart from its focus on silver and gold, the chief executive said. Irish building materials firm CRH (LON:CRH) CRH.I is to buy U.S. cement maker Ash Grove Cement Co ASHG.PK for $3.5 billion, wasting no time in using cash from a major disposal to strengthen its North American business. Asahi Group Holdings Ltd 2502.T is ready to spend "billions of dollars" more on acquisitions, after having recently spent $11 billion to acquire beer brands across Europe from Anheuser-Busch InBev NV ABI.BR , a top company executive said. The German government denied a report that it favoured a merger of state-backed Commerzbank CBKG.DE with France's BNP Paribas BNPP.PA , saying it was not in negotiations to divest its 15 percent stake in the German lender. Swiss stock exchange operator SIX Group has hired JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) JPM.N to look at options for its payments unit, including a sale worth up to 2 billion Swiss francs ($2.1 billion), sources familiar with the plans told Reuters. Murray Goulburn Co-operative, Australia's largest milk processor, said it was considering several takeover approaches from suitors interested in acquiring the cooperative as a whole or some of its assets, but it had not received any formal offers. French publishers La Martiniere Groupe and Media-Participations announced talks over a merger that could create a group with combined revenues of more than 560 million euros ($666 million), in the latest sign of consolidation in the industry.