(Adds MEVP, Imagination Tech, Commercial Bank, Myer Holdings, Fincantieri, Petrobras, Playbuzz, India oil fields)
Sept 27 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 1300 GMT on Wednesday:
** German industrial group Siemens AG SIEGn.DE and French rival Alstom SA ALSO.PA agreed to merge their rail operations, creating a European champion to better withstand the international advance of China's state-owned CRRC Corp Ltd 601766.SS . French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire on Wednesday said he hoped Europe could create a leading naval company similar to the one formed by the railway operations tie-up between Alstom ALSO.PA and SIEGn.DE , as he reiterated his support for the Alstom and Siemens transaction. Finnish power utility Fortum FORTUM.HE will launch an 8.05 billion-euro ($9.5 billion) takeover bid for Uniper UN01.DE , the power stations operator and energy trading business partly-owned by German utility E.ON EONGn.DE , it said on Tuesday. The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday filed an antitrust lawsuit challenging Parker-Hannifin (NYSE:PH) Corp's PH.N purchase of Clarcor Inc, which closed in February. Saudi Arabia's Bahri 4030.SE , the world's largest owner and operator of very large crude carriers (VLCCs), aims to start operating its joint venture with French logistics firm Bollore by the end of the year, an executive told Reuters. China-backed coal miner Yancoal Australia Ltd YAL.AX said on Wednesday it had exercised its option to buy a 29 percent stake in the Warkworth operation from Japan's Mitsubishi Corp 8058.T for $230 million. Boeing (NYSE:BA) Co BA.N will invest $33 million for a majority stake in a joint venture with Commercial Aircraft Corp of China that will oversee the U.S. planemaker's new 737 completion plant in China, the China Daily reported. Ford Motor (NYSE:F) Co F.N said it will collaborate with Lyft to deploy Ford self-driving vehicles on the ride services company's network in large numbers by 2021. A department of Vietnam's finance ministry suggested transferring responsibility for the privatisation of brewers Sabeco SAB.HM and Habeco BHN.HM if the trade ministry does not publish sale prospectuses by the end of the month. Planemaker Bombardier Inc BBDb.TO aims to close deals with Chinese airlines in upcoming months and is in talks with the country's three biggest airlines, a senior Bombardier executive said on Tuesday. Mandarin Oriental International Ltd MOIL.SI said it will not sell The Excelsior hotel for the time being as bids for one of Hong Kong's most anticipated commercial real estate sales this year were too low. Japan's biggest private-sector life insurer, Nippon Life Insurance Co NPNLI.UL , is in talks to buy a minority stake in U.S. investment company TCW Group, sources with direct knowledge of the deal said. Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) CVX.N may miss its mid-October target for closing the agreed $2 billion sale of its natural gas assets in Bangladesh to a Chinese consortium as Dhaka weighs the prospect of a counterbid, people with knowledge of the matter said. Pacific Commerce, the trading arm of refiner Shandong Dongming Petrochemical, has purchased 66 percent more crude oil in 2017 than last year, both for its own system and for other independent Chinese refiners, a Dongming senior executive said. Exchange group Nasdaq Inc NDAQ.O and Nordic financial services group SEB SEBa.ST have teamed up to test a blockchain-based mutual fund trading platform for the Swedish market in an effort to simplify and make the process faster. South Korea's SK Hynix Inc 000660.KS said its board had approved its participation in a consortium led by Bain Capital that plans to purchase Toshiba Corp's 6502.T memory chip unit for 2 trillion yen ($17.7 billion). Rossium, the investment vehicle which controls Russian lender Credit Bank of Moscow CBOM.MM among other assets, may buy the bank's three subordinated Eurobonds, it said. Saudi Aramco's trading arm will start trading non-Saudi crude oil to mainly feed its international joint ventures as the world's largest oil exporter seeks to optimise profits, industry sources familiar with the move said. Japan's government said it had raised a total 1.3 trillion yen ($11.5 billion) from its sale of Japan Post Holdings Co - including shares sold in the overallotment portion of the deal that was determined on Wednesday. Privately-run conglomerate CEFC China Energy has obtained preliminary state approval for its proposed $9.1 billion investment in Russian oil major Rosneft ROSN.MM . just about a week after the deal was announced, three sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP), a venture capital firm focused on tech startups in the Middle East, has signed up Dubai billionaire Mohamed Alabbar as an anchor investor in a new fund that aims to raise $250 million, the company said on Wednesday. India plans to offer stakes of up to 60 percent in oil and gas fields owned by state energy companies that are already in production to private firms, five sources with knowledge of the matter said, a move that would hit revenues of state explorers. Imagination Technologies IMG.L , the British chip designer selling itself to a China-backed buyout fund, said on Wednesday another potential buyer had ruled itself out, removing a potential hurdle to the 550 million pound ($737 million) deal. Qatar's third-largest lender, Commercial Bank COMB.QA , is in talks to sell its 40 percent stake in Abu Dhabi-listed United Arab Bank UAB.AD to the UAE's Tabarak Investment, sources told Reuters on Wednesday. Myer Holdings' MYR.AX largest shareholder asked the company for a full list of its owners, spurring takeover speculation of Australia's biggest department store operator on Wednesday. A compromise between Italy and France over a blocked bid for STX France by Fincantieri FCT.MI gives the Italian shipbuilder the right to appoint the French shipyard's chairman and chief executive, an Italian government source said on Wednesday. Petróelo Brasileiro SA PETR4.SA has drawn up a strategy to participate in Brazil's three upcoming oil auctions this year, as a declining debt burden has increased the state-controlled oil producer's firepower, Chief Executive Officer Pedro Parente said on Wednesday. Playbuzz, a U.S.-Israeli platform for distributing online content, has raised $35 million in funding led by Viola Growth with participation from existing investors including Walt Disney Co DIS.N , Saban Ventures, 83North and Carmel Ventures.