News: BHP Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions

(Adds: International Distributions Services, AlphaTheta Updates: Project Liberty)

May 15 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 13:30 GMT on Wednesday:

		** International Distributions Services  IDSI.L  said 
Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky's investment vehicle EP Group 

has raised its proposal to buy the owner of Royal Mail, valuing it at about 3.5 billion pounds ($4.42 billion).

		**  Entrepreneur and former Los Angeles Dodgers owner 
Frank McCourt said  his organization, Project Liberty, is 

forming a consortium to buy social media platform TikTok in the United States.

		** Britain's competition regulator referred Japan-based 
DJ equipment maker AlphaTheta's proposed deal to acquire New 

Zealand's Serato to a lengthier probe.

** A consortium led by Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund and pension fund provider announced a conditional offer to take Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) MAHB.KL private, in a deal worth about $3.9 billion.

** Malaysia's Axiata AXIA.KL and conglomerate Sinar Mas are in talks to merge their telecommunications operations in Indonesia to create an about $3.45 billion entity, the Malaysian firm said, as it seeks to tap into the growing demand in the local telecom sector.

** SoftwareOne SWON.S has attracted the interest of potential buyers since a new supervisory board was appointed last month, the Swiss IT service provider said.

** Germany's Siemens SIEGn.DE will sell its Innomotics large motors and drives division to financial investor KPS Capital Partners for 3 billion euros ($3.25 billion), business daily Handelsblatt reported, citing financial sources.

** Chinese electric vehicle maker Aiways will go public via a merger with U.S. special purpose acquisition company Hudson Acquistion Corp HUDA.O in a deal that should value the company around $400 million, the two companies said.

** BHP Group's (BHP) options for its pursuit of rival miner Anglo American AAL.L include sweetening its $42.7 billion buyout offer, making a hostile bid or walking away for now as it approaches a May 22 deadline to lodge a binding offer.

** Novo Holdings, the controlling shareholder of Danish obesity drugmaker Novo Nordisk NOVOb.CO , said it would buy a controlling stake of about 60% in Single Use Support, an Austria-based life science tools company.

** Nippon Steel's 5401.T deal to buy U.S. Steel X.N has "zero chance" of winning government approval amid continued opposition from the United Steel Workers union and "needs to be unraveled," the CEO of rival suitor Cleveland-Cliffs CLF.N said on Tuesday.

** A pair of U.S. banking regulators announced on Tuesday they would be hosting a public meeting on July 19 to solicit input on the proposed acquisition of Discover Financial Services DFS.N by Capital One Financial Corporation COF.N .