European shares rebound on corporate results, takeover activity

* FTSEurofirst had fallen for last five sessions

* RSA surges on possible bid from Zurich Insurance (Xetra: ZFI1.DE - news)

* Michelin (Paris: FR0000121261 - news) falls as weak tyre pricing takes its toll

* Europe bourses in 2015: http://link.reuters.com/pap87v

* Asset performance in 2015: http://link.reuters.com/gap87v

By Atul Prakash

LONDON, July 28 (Reuters) - European shares rebounded on Tuesday, lifted by strong company results and corporate takeover activity after falling in the previous five sessions due to concerns over China's growth.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was up 0.9 percent at 1,542.72 points going into the close of trading. The index had tumbled in the last five sessions and touched a two-week low on Monday.

The euro zone's blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index also rose 0.8 percent. Both the FTSEurofirst and the Euro STOXX are up around 13 percent so far in 2015.

The STOXX Europe 600 Insurance Index advanced 1 percent, buoyed by Zurich Insurance's possible bid for rival RSA, which caused RSA shares to surge 15 percent.

Other deals saw Melrose Industries (LSE: MRO.L - news) jump 9.2 percent after agreeing to sell its Elster business to Honeywell, while engineering group GKN (LSE: GKN.L - news) gained 7.4 percent after moving to buy Fokker Technologies.

Kering (Milan: KER.MI - news) also climbed 7.4 percent after Gucci, the flagship brand of the French luxury group, posted a rise in underlying second-quarter sales.

However, Michelin fell 6.3 percent after warning that price cuts were taking a bigger-than-expected toll on its earnings.

"The market has been preoccupied with uncertainties related to China in the last couple of days, but those concerns are taking a back seat today and equities are getting some support from company earnings and M&A," Gerhard Schwarz, head of equity strategy at Baader Bank (Xetra: 508810 - news) in Munich, said.

In the past five days, fears for China's economic growth had dominated the market, eclipsing previous worries over Greece's debt crisis.

Shanghai shares fell again on Tuesday even after Beijing pledged to lend support, while investors were also expecting a two-day U.S. Federal Reserve meeting starting later in the day to show that U.S. interest rates may rise in September.

Higher rates can often hit stock markets, as they boost returns on bonds and cash, and can result in bigger debt costs for companies listed on stock markets.

Nevertheless, some traders said the outlook for European shares looked resilient. Even if rates go up in the United (Shenzhen: 000925.SZ - news) States, they are expected to stay at record lows in Europe, while the European Central Bank (ECB) is also boosting liquidity to stimulate economic growth in the region.

"In Asia, it's a whole different story, but in Europe I'm not too concerned," said Andreas Clenow, hedge fund manager and principal at ACIES Asset Management.

Today's European research round-up (Additional reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Mark Heinrich)