Deals of the day- Mergers and acquisitions

(Removes erroneous reference to Canadian Solar in Sharp Corp item)

Dec 8 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 1330 GMT on Monday:

** Three companies have emerged to make a joint bid for Citigroup Inc's credit card business in Japan, the Nikkei reported, as the U.S. lender goes ahead with plans to exit consumer banking in the country. Shinsei Bank Ltd, department store operator Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd and credit card service provider JCB Co Ltd want to buy the unit, which offers Diners Club credit cards in Japan, the business daily reported.

** Merck & Co Inc said it would buy Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc in a deal valued at $9.5 billion, giving the major drugmaker an entry into the market for drugs that target so-called superbugs.

** Hudson Pacific Properties Inc will buy a portfolio of office buildings in California from Blackstone Group LP in a $3.5 billion stock-and-cash deal that is larger than Hudson's market value.

** India's antitrust regulator said it had approved generic drugmaker Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd's $3.2 billion bid to buy smaller rival Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd , subject to the companies divesting seven products.

** Songbird Estates Plc shareholder Madison International Realty plans to accept Qatar Investment Authority's offer for the British property company, said the sovereign wealth fund behind the hostile bid.

** France's Saint-Gobain has offered 2.75 billion Swiss francs ($2.8 billion) to buy a controlling stake in chemicals group Sika AG, but the move was rejected by the Swiss firm's management.

** Hanwha SolarOne Co Ltd will buy Germany-based affiliate Q Cell Investment Co Ltd in a deal valued at about $1.2 billion to avoid U.S. tariffs on China-made products.

** Some of the founders of Infosys Ltd want to sell shares in the Indian IT outsourcing company for $1.1 billion, a person familiar with the matter said, months after the company picked its first outsider as chief executive.

** Royal Bank of Scotland Plc has launched the sale of private bank Coutts International and has invited at least 10 potential suitors, including Credit Suisse Group AG, Julius Baer Gruppe AG and Malayan Banking Bhd to participate in an auction, sources said.

** China Resources Land Ltd said it planned to raise up to HK$7.5 billion ($968 million) via a rights issue to fund part of the acquisition of interests in five projects from its parent company for 14.8 billion yuan ($2.4 billion).

** Canadian wood panel maker Norbord Inc will buy Ainsworth Lumber Co Ltd in an all-stock deal valued at C$762.6 million ($666.6 million).

** German publisher Axel Springer Se is spending 446 million euros ($548 million) in cash to lift its stake in a digital classified advertising joint venture to 85 from 70 percent as part of its efforts to shift from print to digital media.

** Saudi Arabia's National Industrialization Co (Tasnee) has completed a 1.8 billion riyal ($480 million) deal to raise its majority stake in its Cristal subsidiary by a further 13 percentage points, it said in a statement on Sunday.

** Novo Banco, the bank carved out of Portugal's Banco Espirito Santo after it was rescued, said it had agreed to sell investment banking unit BESI to Chinese brokerage Haitong Securities Ltd for 379 million euros ($465 million).

** InterContinental Hotels Group, one of the world's largest hoteliers, said it had agreed to sell its Paris-Le Grand hotel for 330 million euros ($405 million) to Constellation Hotels.

** UK activist investment fund Crystal Amber Fund Ltd is in talks with several overseas investors about buying shares in J Sainsbury Plc's, as part of a plan to shake up the food retailer that could cause a takeover bid to be made, the Sunday Telegraph newspaper said.

** Japan's Sharp Corp said on Monday it was considering selling its U.S.-based solar energy development unit Recurrent Energy, but had yet to make a final decision on any deal.

** Korea Electric Power Corp (KEPCO) launched on Monday a selldown worth about $190 million in telecom company LG Uplus Corp, according to a term sheet of the deal seen by Reuters.

** Motor insurer Esure Group Plc said it had conditionally agreed to buy the remaining 50 percent of Gocompare.com Holdings Ltd for 95 million pounds ($147.8 million), raising its holding in the price comparison website to 100 percent.

** Lafarge Africa Plc will make an offer on Wednesday worth about $122 million to buy out minority shareholders in its Nigerian business Ashaka Cement Plc .

** South African fast-food chain firm Famous Brands Ltd has bought a 75 percent stake in a local meat processing plant, it said, bulking up its supply chain to fight overseas competition.

** Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings Ltd has agreed to buy a minority stake in Virtu Financial Inc , the New York-based electronic dealing firm said, in a bet on the growth of automated trading globally.

** Israeli food and drinks maker Strauss Group Ltd said on Sunday its Brazilian subsidiary Tres Coracoes Group bought private coffee producer Itamaraty.

** Private equity firm I Squared Capital said it would buy a 109 km toll road from Malaysia's IJM Corp Bhd that connects two key touristic destination cities in northwestern India. IJM Corp said in a separate statement the deal value was 5.25 billion rupees ($84.9 million). ($1 = 0.81 euro) ($1 = 0.64 pound) ($1 = 0.98 Swiss franc) ($1 = 121.41 Japanese yen) ($1 = 3.75 Saudi riyal) ($1 = 61.83 Indian rupees) ($1 = 7.75 Hong Kong dollars) ($1 = 6.17 Chinese yuan renminbi) ($1 = 1.14 Canadian dollars) (Compiled by Anet Josline Pinto in Bengaluru)