News: BHP Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions

(Adds: N-Able, Catalent, Sidara, HSBC, Sabadell Updates: ConocoPhillips, Anglo American, Merck , Britain's Royal Mail)

May 29 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 1340 GMT on Wednesday:

** N-Able NABL.N , a U.S. provider of information technology software with a market value of $2.3 billion, is exploring a sale after attracting acquisition interest, people familiar with the matter said.

		** Catalent  CTLT.N  said its stockholders have voted to 
approve its buyout deal with Novo Holdings, the parent company 

of Novo Nordisk NOVOb.CO .

		** Merck  MRK.N  agreed to buy privately held biotech 
EyeBio for as much as $3 billion, as it looks to diversify its 

portfolio of experimental drugs with treatments for eye diseases.

		** Dubai-based engineering and consulting firm Sidara 
raised its offer for John Wood Group  WG.L  for the third time, 

saying that was the "final offer" for the British oilfield services and engineering firm.

		** ConocoPhillips  COP.N   agreed to buy Marathon Oil 
 MRO.N  in a $22.5 billion deal, the latest in a series of 

mega-mergers in the oil and gas industry as companies look to bolster reserves.

		**  Anglo American  AAL.L   rejected BHP Group's 
 (BHP)  last-ditch request for more time to discuss a $49 

billion takeover offer, dismissing it as highly complex and likely ending a five-week pursuit by the bigger rival.

		** HSBC  HSBA.L  has transferred ownership of its 
Russian unit to Expobank for an undisclosed fee, the two lenders 

said , ending around two years of negotiations and uncertainty.

		** Spain's Sabadell  SABE.MC  is not planning to try and 
buy a competitor as part of a potential defence strategy against 

rival BBVA's BBVA.MC hostile takeover attempt, Chief Executive Officer Cesar Gonzalez-Bueno told Reuters.

		** The owner of Britain's Royal Mail has agreed to a 
3.57 billion pound ($4.55 billion) takeover by Czech billionaire 

Daniel Kretinsky, it said, in a take-private deal of one of the world's oldest postal firms.

** A consortium of U.S. investment firm KKR KKR.N and Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) STEL.SI has emerged as the frontrunner to buy a minority stake worth $1 billion in one of Asia's biggest data centre providers, two sources said.

** India's Paytm PAYT.NS is not in talks to sell a stake in itself, while neither billionaire Gautam Adani nor his namesake power-to-ports group are looking to buy shares in the embattled digital payments firm, the companies said .

** Cathie Wood's Ark Investment Management had purchased a stake in xAI, Elon Musk's artificial intelligence startup, with a post-money valuation of $24 billion, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday.

** Private equity firm KKR KKR.N would acquire Canadian energy firm Emera's EMA.TO indirect minority stake in the Labrador Island Link (LIL) clean energy transmission project for C$1.19 billion ($872.24 million), the companies said on Tuesday.

** T-Mobile TMUS.O will buy almost all of regional carrier United States Cellular's USM.N wireless operations including customers, stores and 30% of its spectrum assets in a deal valued at $4.4 billion, the telecom giant said on Tuesday.

** Hess HES.N shareholders on Tuesday approved the proposed $53 billion merger with Chevron CVX.N that paves the way for the No. 2 U.S. oil company to gain a prize asset and a foothold in rival Exxon Mobil's XOM.N massive Guyana discoveries.