Deals of the day- Mergers and acquisitions

(Adds Viacom, Vivendi, Zurich Insurance, Sharp, TeliaSonera, Shutterfly and Molycorp)

Feb 23 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 2100 GMT on Tuesday:

** Aerospace component supplier Honeywell International Inc HON.N confirmed on Tuesday that it had engaged in deal talks with United Technologies Corp UTX.N over the past year, and said it did not see regulatory process as a "material obstacle" to the deal.

** France's Thales ruled out its participation in a "Big Bang" merger as the aerospace industry digested news of inconclusive talks between two of its largest suppliers, United Tech and Honeywell.

** Deutsche Boerse and the London Stock Exchange are taking a fresh run at a merger that would create a large European exchange operator potentially capable of facing down strong competition from the United States and Asia.

** Time Inc, the publisher of Sports Illustrated, People and Time magazine, is considering a deal to buy the core business of Yahoo Inc, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

** Western Digital Corp said China's Unisplendour Corp Ltd backed out from buying a stake in the hard-disk maker, forcing the U.S. company to cut the price of its proposed offer for rival SanDisk Corp by 9 percent.

** MKS Instruments Inc, which makes instruments used in semiconductor manufacturing processes, said it agreed to buy Newport Corp, a manufacturer of laser-based products, for $980 million in an all-cash deal.

** Business software maker Oracle Corp, which is seeking to expand its cloud business, has agreed to buy Israeli cloud software company Ravello Systems, the two firms said on their websites.

** Viacom Inc is considering selling a minority stake in its Paramount Pictures movie studio, Chief Executive Philippe Dauman said.

** Loss-making Japanese electronics maker Sharp Corp's board begins a two-day meeting on Wednesday to decide if it should accept a $5.9 billion takeover by Taiwan's Foxconn instead of an offer from a state-backed fund, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.

** Canada's Bank of Nova Scotia has approached a unit of Bank of China, Fubon Financial Holdings , Maybank and Japanese lenders to gauge interest for its $1.7 billion stake in Thai lender Thanachart, people familiar with the matter said.

** Tech giant Samsung Electronics Co Ltd denied a report that it planned to sell its majority stake in medical equipment maker Samsung Medison Co Ltd, saying it was groundless.

** Consortiums led by Canada's Brookfield Asset Management Inc and Australia's Qube Holdings are considering joining forces to bid for Asciano Ltd, the Australian port and rail giant said.

** Japan's top oil refiner JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp will buy a roughly 10 percent stake in the Vietnam National Petroleum Group, the Nikkei business daily reported, although the two companies said nothing had been decided.

** French media group Vivendi said it had bought a 26.2 percent stake in TV production and distribution company Banijay for 290 million euros in cash ($319 million).

** Swiss Re expects its Admin Re unit to make further acquisitions in Britain, the reinsurer's finance chief told Reuters on Tuesday.

** Zurich Insurance is exploring a sale of its Hong Kong and Singapore operations as it reviews its non-core businesses outside Europe, sources familiar with the matter said.

** Swedish telecom operator TeliaSonera has begun a sale of debt-collecting firm Sergel Kredittjanster AB as it seeks to cut debt and focus on its core telecom services, people familiar with the matter said.

** Private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners LP has approached U.S. digital imaging company Shuttefly Inc with a preliminary acquisition proposal, people familiar with the matter said.

** Creditors of Molycorp Inc have reached a deal to divide up the value of the largest U.S. producer of rare earth materials, which should help clear the way for the company to exit bankruptcy. (Compiled by Sruthi Shankar and Arunima Banerjee in Bengaluru)