Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions

(Baidu, Lloyds, Serco, Deutsche Boerse, Cytotools, AquaChile, Riverbed, Big Bus Tours)

Oct 9 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 2000 GMT on Thursday:

** Auxilium Pharmaceuticals Inc agreed to be bought by Endo International Plc for $1.67 billion and terminated its deal to buy Canadian eye-drug maker QLT Inc .

** Kindred Healthcare Inc said it would buy Gentiva Health Services Inc in a cash and stock deal valued at $1.8 billion, including the assumption of net debt.

** Sime Darby Bhd, the world's top oil palm planter by land size, has offered to buy New Britain Palm Oil Ltd for about $1.74 billion as the Malaysian firm looks to add high yielding plantations that can immediately boost its earnings.

** Lafarge and Holcim are about to request approval from the European Commission for their planned merger, Lafarge Chief Executive Bruno Lafont said.

** One of the world's largest operators of open-top sightseeing tours, Big Bus Tours, has hired JPMorgan to find a buyer in a deal that could value the travel firm at close to 500 million pounds ($810 million), sources familiar with the situation said.

** Riverbed Technology Inc said it would review strategic options and launched a cost-cutting program, three days after activist investor Elliott Management reaffirmed its offer to buy the network equipment maker.

** Chile's largest salmon producer, AquaChile, said on Thursday it had agreed to purchase a controlling stake in rival Invermar, a step toward further consolidation in the world's No. 2 salmon exporting market.

** German biotech Cytotools is seeking a buyer or partner for its main product, diabetic foot ulcer treatment DermaPro, which has peak annual sales potential of 200 million euros ($254 million), business daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said.

** German exchange operator Deutsche Boerse is set to unveil a wide-ranging cooperation with the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE), three sources familiar with the plans said.

** Struggling British outsourcer Serco Group Plc is looking to sell off its environmental services and leisure businesses as part of an overhaul designed to restore its fortunes, a source close to the situation told Reuters.

** Britain is unlikely to sell any more of its remaining 25 percent stake in Lloyds Banking Group until the bailed-out lender is cleared to pay dividends again, banking and political sources told Reuters.

** China's Baidu Inc, the world's No. 2 Internet search engine, bought control of Brazilian rival Peixe Urbano for an undisclosed sum, the latest step in a push to expand in Latin America's largest economy that began more than two years ago.

** BASF's Wintershall said a major deal with Gazprom was on track, after comments by the boss of the Russian company led to speculation it may be altered. The deal for Gazprom to take over Wintershall's German gas trading and storage was on course for completion this autumn, a Wintershall spokesman said.

** Botox maker Allergan Inc raised its third-quarter profit estimate and said the updated forecast showed that Valeant Pharmaceuticals Inc's takeover offer undervalued the company.

** Singapore's sovereign fund GIC said it had sold its 100 pct interest in a London property called Bank of America Merrill Lynch Financial Centre for 582.5 million pounds ($944.5 million) to Norway's sovereign fund, Norges Bank Investment Management.

** The sale of a 49 percent stake in Spain's Aena, the world's biggest airports operator, has got off to a shaky start, attracting just three potential core investors, local media reported on Thursday, compared with expectations last month of up to seven.

** Impax Laboratories Inc said it gained access to an emergency anti-allergen injection, epinephrine, by acquiring two privately held Pennsylvania drugmakers for $700 million.

** Japanese private equity firm Advantage Partners is looking to sell its controlling stake in Pacific island Guam's telecom and pay-television company Teleguam Holdings LLC (GTA), people with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Advantage has hired Citigroup to find buyers for the stake, which could fetch over $300 million, the people added.

** Slovenia has received several binding bids for 100 percent of the country's second-largest bank, state-owned Nova KBM (NKBM), the state investment fund coordinating the privatisation said.

** Navis Capital Partners, a Malaysian private equity firm, said it bought a controlling stake in an Australian learning products provider in a deal valuing that company up to A$250 million ($222 million), adding to its portfolio of Australian education firms.

** Redexis, the holding for the gas distribution business in Spain of Goldman Sachs Infrastructure Partners, has given a mandate to buy assets of competitor Naturgas, the local unit of Portugal's EDP, two sources aware of the process said.

** Billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn urged Apple Inc's board to start a tender offer to repurchase shares using a part of its $133 billion cash pile.

** South Africa generic drugmaker Aspen Pharmacare has teamed up with shareholder GlaxoSmithKline PLC to extend its foothold in Japan, a lucrative market for low-cost medicines, it said.

** Italian designer label Tod's expects sales to tick higher in 2015 after a year dampened by weaker Chinese demand, and said on Thursday it would begin fresh talks to buy the profitable Roger Vivier shoe brand next summer.

** United Arab Emirates-based supermarket chain Lulu Group has bought a 10 percent stake in U.K.-based trading firm The East India Company and a 40 percent stake in its fine foods subsidiary for around $82 million in total.

** Temasek Holdings has agreed to invest 5 billion rupees ($82 million) to buy a stake in Devyani International, operator of KFC, Pizza Hut and Costa Coffee chains in India, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.

** Malaysia's CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, RHB Capital Bhd and Malaysia Building Society Bhd (MBSB) have agreed to create the country's biggest banking group, with deal terms set to be worked out over the next year, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.

** Cisco Systems Inc will establish an $80 million joint venture with Chinese hardware manufacturer TCL Corp to invest in commercial cloud computing services, TCL said in a stock exchange filing.

** The Croatian government said it would again try to find an industry partner for struggling national flag carrier Croatia Airlines (CA).

** Italian oil service group Saipem said it had set up a venture with energy consultant Xodus Group and Japanese engineering company Chiyoda to develop business in the subsea sector.

** Dutch insurer Delta Lloyd said it has abandoned plans to sell its Belgian operations after talks with a potential buyer failed to materialise in a deal. It did not name the potential buyer.

** Finnish pulp and paper maker Stora Enso said a deal to sell its loss-making paper mill in Uetersen, Germany to Austria's Brigl & Bergmeister had been cancelled due to opposition from Germany's competition watchdog. (Compiled by Yashaswini Swamynathan and Anet Josline Pinto in Bangalore; Editing by Savio D'Souza)