(Adds Hess, U.S. Steel and Paramount Global)
April 12 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 2000 GMT on Friday:
** Hedge fund Barington Capital urged Paramount Global to scrap its exclusive merger talks with Skydance Media, arguing all shareholders would benefit if the company looked at other potential bidders.
** U.S. Steel X.N shareholders approved its proposed $14.9 billion acquisition by Japan's Nippon Steel 5401.T, taking the merger one step closer to completion even as political opposition to the deal mounts.
** An Exxon Mobil XOM.N arbitration case that could block the sale of Hess Corp HES.N to Chevron CVX.N could drag on until year-end, Hess said in a U.S. securities filing.
** U.S. gene sequencing company Illumina's ILMN.O plan to divest cancer diagnostic test maker Grail GRAL.O received the green light from EU antitrust regulators after having blocked the deal two years ago.
** Thai retailer Central Group has acquired the landmark KaDeWe property in central Berlin from the insolvent Austrian company Signa in what it said was another step towards buying the group.
** Japan's Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) 8306.T is buying a 20% stake in HDFC Bank's HDBK.NS non-banking unit HDB Financial Services, valuing the IPO-bound subsidiary between $9 billion and $10 billion, the Economic Times reported.
** The United Arab Emirates' state-owned oil company recently considered buying Britain's BP BP.L but the deliberations did not progress beyond preliminary discussions, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
** Societe Generale SOGN.PA said it had agreed the sale to Moroccan conglomerate Saham Group of Société Générale Marocaine de Banques and La Marocaine Vie for 745 million euros ($797.45 million), as part of a wider divestment strategy, lifting its shares by more than 2%.
** Australia's Boral (BLD) recommended that investors accept an up to A$1.5 billion ($980.70 million) takeover offer from its largest shareholder Seven Group Holdings (SVW) , after negotiating an increase in the cash component of the deal.
** Brookfield Asset Management BAM.TO is in advanced talks to acquire a majority stake in private credit manager Castlelake with an investment of more than $1.5 billion, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.
** Four board members at Paramount Global PARA.O will step down amid reports that the entertainment giant controlled by Shari Redstone was discussing a merger with Skydance Media, the company disclosed in its proxy filing on Thursday.
