News: S32 Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions

(Adds Maersk ,International Holding Company, Belgian insurer Ageas SA and Qualcomm)

March 22 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 2000 GMT on Friday:

** Qualcomm QCOM.O on Friday said it has terminated its bid to acquire Autotalks, an Israeli firm that makes communications chips to help prevent car crashes.

** Belgian insurer Ageas SA AGES.BR said it does not intend to make an offer for British home and motor insurer Direct Line DLGD.L after two failed attempts over possible terms.

** Shipping company Maersk MAERSKb.CO said it was too early to resume sailings through the Red Sea due to a continued elevated risk level, despite an initiative by the European Union to increase safety in the region.

		** A unit of International Holding Company  IHC.AD , Abu 
Dhabi's most valuable company, is interested in acquiring 

Zambia's Lubambe Copper Mine, an asset that China's JCHX Mining has already agreed to buy, three sources familiar with the details told Reuters.

		** Pipeline operator Summit Midstream Partners  SMLP.N  
said it would sell its Utica assets to a unit of midstream 

energy company MPLX LP MPLX.N for about $625 million in cash.

		** A planned merger between Vodafone's  VOD.L  UK 
operation and Hutchison's  0001.HK  Three UK unit is likely to 

face a 24-week in-depth investigation after Britain's antitrust regulator said the tie-up risked leaving consumers worse off.

** EU antitrust regulators have resumed their investigation into British Airways owner IAG's ICAG.L 400-million-euro ($432.7 million)) bid to buy out Air Europa, according to an update on the European Commission website.

** Italy's second-largest bank UniCredit CRDI.MI sold its 4.99% stake in construction group WeBuild WBD.MI at 2.20 euros per share through an accelerated book-building procedure, a source close to the deal said.

** Telkom TKGJ.J , South Africa's third-biggest telecom company, said it had entered into an agreement to sell its masts and towers business, Swiftnet, for 6.75 billion rand ($357 million).

** Chinese offshore oil and gas major CNOOC 0883.HK , 600938.SS said it had filed an arbitration claim to establish a right over Hess' HES.N stake in the giant Guyana oilfield Stabroek in the event of the U.S. firm's sale to Chevron CVX.N .

** Australian coal trader M Resources and Singapore's GEAR plan a funding round after their $1.65-billion purchase of South32's (S32) Illawarra metallurgical coal operations, a source familiar with the matter said.

** Brazilian oil and gas company Enauta ENAT3.SA said on Thursday that it has signed a contract to sell 20% of its stake in the concession to the BS-4 block, which includes the Atlanta and Oliva oil fields, to affiliated companies of Westlawn Americas Offshore (WAO) for $301.7 million.

** Microsoft MSFT.O has agreed to pay AI startup Inflection about $650 million in cash in an unusual deal that would allow Microsoft to use Inflection's models and hire most of the startup's staff including its co-founders, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday.