Deals of the day- Mergers and acquisitions

(Adds Vitamin Shoppe, BlackBerry, Canadian Pacific Railway, Platform Specialty and Sysco) Oct 20 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 2000 GMT on Monday: ** Vitamin Shoppe Inc, the nutritional supplement retailer under activist shareholder pressure to consider a sale, is speaking to investment banks about hiring a financial adviser, according to people familiar with the matter. ** Platform Specialty Products Corp said it would buy Arysta LifeScience Ltd for about $3.51 billion, Platform's third acquisition this year as the company looks to strengthen its agrichemicals business. Platform is buying Arysta from funds backed by London-based private equity firm Permira. ** The top two lawmakers on the Senate's antitrust panel have urged regulators to scrutinize food distributor Sysco Corp's planned purchase of rival U.S. Foods for $3.5 billion. ** IBM Corp said it would hive off its loss-making semiconductor unit to contract-chipmaker Globalfoundries Inc to focus on cloud computing, mobile and big data analytics. ** BlackBerry shares rose more than 3 percent on Monday after a news website said Chinese computer maker Lenovo Group might offer to buy the Canadian technology company. ** Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd said on Monday that it had ended talks to buy CSX Corp and that the two companies planned no further discussions, sending shares of the No. 3 U.S. railroad operator down nearly 3 percent. ** Chiquita Brands International Inc said proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services reversed its stance and recommended that the banana producer's shareholders vote in favor of a revised offer from rival Fyffes Plc. ** Brazilian juice maker Grupo Cutrale and investment firm Safra Group are not considering raising their $14-per-share definitive offer for Chiquita Brands International Inc, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters on Friday. ** Mitel Networks Corp , a provider of business communications services, offered to buy smaller U.S. peer ShoreTel Inc for about $540 million as part of efforts to expand in the United States. ** Valeant Pharmaceuticals Inc may raise its hostile takeover bid for Allergan Inc and will not walk away from its pursuit ahead of Allergan's Dec. 18 special shareholder meeting, Chief Executive Michael Pearson said on Monday. Allergan shareholder Paulson & Co is urging the Botox maker to merge with Shire Plc as an alternative to a deal with Valeant, according to two people familiar with the matter. ** An investor group that includes Jynwel Capital and funds affiliated with the Abu Dhabi government is launching a bid to buy Reebok from Adidas AG for about $2.2 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday. ** British pub chain Spirit Pub Co Plc said its board was in talks with ale maker Greene King Plc over a revised 109.5 pence-per-share takeover offer, valuing Spirit Pub at 723.3 million pounds ($1.16 billion). ** An investor group led by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets has agreed to buy Louisiana electricity supplier Cleco Corp in a deal valued at about $4.7 billion, including about $1.3 billion of assumed debt. ** SHV, a family-owned Dutch investment firm, has reached a conditional agreement to buy animal feed and nutrition company Nutreco for 2.7 billion euros ($3.4 billion), expanding into food-related businesses. ** British pay-TV group BSkyB said it would own at least 69 percent of Sky Deutschland once the takeover period closes, after more minority investors than expected signed up for the offer. ** Brazil's Vale SA said on Friday that a revised nickel-mining contract with Indonesia would raise maximum royalties, cut land holdings and require its Indonesian unit to sell another 20 percent of its shares to local investors. ** Norwegian oil and gas explorer Rocksource, a stakeholder in two oil discoveries, has received a bid for at least 20 percent of its shares from an unnamed financial investor. ** Williams Companies Inc is said to be one of the bidders for QEP Resources Inc's natural gas pipeline unit, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. ** Australian management firm Transfield Services Ltd said it had received an indicative takeover proposal from Spain's Ferrovial, valuing the company at around A$1 billion ($876 million). ** Qatar Holding LLC has agreed to pay $616 million for about one fifth of Lifestyle International Holdings, a department operator in Hong Kong and mainland China - the latest addition of a high-end retail brand to the sovereign wealth fund's portfolio. ($1 = 0.62 British pound) ($1 = 0.78 euro) ($1 = 1.14 Australian dollar) (Compiled by Amrutha Penumudi and Anannya Pramanick in Bangalore)