Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions

(Adds JM Smucker, Telefonica, Gorenje, Baer, EMG, Atlantia, Exxaro, Melrose ; Updates Cigna, Uniper)

March 8 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 1400 GMT on Thursday:

** U.S. health insurer Cigna Corp said it would buy pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts Holding Co ESRX.O for about $54 billion, a tie-up that reflects pressure on healthcare companies to grow bigger to cut costs.

** Melrose, which has made a hostile attempt to buy British engineering group GKN Plc, said its shareholders had approved the 7 billion-pound ($9.71 billion) bid and the European Commission had given anti-trust clearance.

** South Africa's Exxaro Resources Ltd said it was interested in buying coal export quotas from the Gupta family's Optimum Coal mine that is now in business rescue proceedings.

** Atlantia is interested in the Italian, French and part of the Latin American assets of Spain's Abertis if it reaches a deal with ACS over a break-up of the Spanish toll-road operator, a source close to the matter said.

** Italian renewable energy group ERG has expressed interest in the solar power portfolio Terra Firma is looking to sell in the country, the company's chief executive told Reuters.

** Shares in Slovenia's Gorenje jumped by almost 9 percent after the household appliances maker announced it had received four non-binding bids from Asia to form a strategic partnership.

** Switzerland's Julius Baer is forming a joint venture with Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), the latest foreign bank looking to tap Thailand's growing wealth.

** Spain's Telefonica is considering selling its Telefonica Deutschland unit, business magazine Wirtschaftswoche reported.

** J.M. Smucker Co is considering a sale of its baking brands, including Pillsbury, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

** Malaysian conglomerate DRB-Hicom Bhd said it was selling much of its non-industrial property assets and the entire hospitality portfolio for a total of 1.9 billion ringgit ($486.31 million).

** Leading shareholders in Orbotech are holding talks in the United States for the sale of a controlling stake in the Israeli technology firm, TheMarker financial news website reported.

** An agreement that will see Finland's Fortum buy a 46.65 percent in German energy group Uniper from E.ON is not a done deal yet, Uniper's Chief Executive Klaus Schaefer told journalists.

** British insurer Aviva is considering acquisitions in Poland and Turkey, its chief executive said, as it reported a 2 percent rise in operating profit and said it planned to return 500 million pounds ($695 million) to shareholders.

** Finnish government said it had sold Raskone, a small truck maintenance company, to a Finnish firm Lease Deal Group for 7.7 million euros ($9.5 million).

** Spain's ACS and Italy's Atlantia are in talks over their competing bids for Spanish toll road company Abertis, the companies said, signaling a multi-billion euro takeover war could be nearing an end.

** Premier Oil is interested in increasing its 50 percent interest in the Catcher North Sea oilfield that produced first oil in December, Chief Executive Tony Durrant told Reuters.

** Daimler said it would deepen its cooperation with China's BAIC Group in the area of new energy vehicles, even as rival Geely seeks to gain access to the German carmakers' electric vehicle technologies.

** Southeast Asia's biggest ride-hailing firm, Grab, is in advanced negotiations to buy parts of Uber Technologies Inc's business in the region, said a source with knowledge of the talks, in what would be Uber's second retreat from an Asian market.

** Sanofi and Evotec said they had started exclusive talks over accelerating research into the treatment of infectious diseases, and added that they would form a new open innovation platform in this area, led by Evotec.

** South African life insurer Sanlam Ltd said a unit of its joint venture with insurer Santam Ltd would buy the remaining 53.37 percent stake in SAHAM Finances for $1.05 billion.

** India will invite initial bids for a stake sale in state-run carrier Air India in the next couple of weeks, Civil Aviation Secretary Rajiv Choubey said during an airshow in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad.

** China's CNPC said its international unit, PetroChina International Co, has agreed to buy a 30-percent stake in Brazilian oil products trader TT Work, as it pushes to expand abroad.

** Nissan Motor Co said the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Motors alliance had no plans to change cross-shareholding ratios of its member companies, after Reuters reported that it was in talks with Renault over a closer tie-up.

** Rent-A-Center Inc is in active talks with multiple parties for a possible buyout, the rent-to-own furniture retailer said on Wednesday.

** Bicecorp SA, one of Chile's largest financial institutions, said on Wednesday it acquired Grupo de Inversiones Suramericana's life annuity business for $230 million, in a move to boost its insurance unit's product offerings. (Compiled by Mrinalini Krothapalli in Bengaluru)