Deals of the day- Mergers and acquisitions

(Adds Avago, Computer Sciences Corp, Poundworld, Monsanto, Avon, J&T Finance Group, Eskom and Basil Read)

May 14 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 2000 GMT on Thursday:

** Avago Technologies Ltd, looking to acquire a fellow chipmaker, has reached out to potential targets including Xilinx Inc, Renesas Electronics Corp and Maxim Integrated Products Inc, according to people familiar with the matter.

** Technology consulting services provider Computer Sciences Corp is planning to separate its government business from its commercial information technology division, people familiar with the matter said.

** Britain's Poundworld, a rival discount chain to Poundland Group Plc, has sold a majority stake to U.S. private equity firm TPG Capital Management, securing new funds to speed-up store expansion.

** U.S. seeds giant Monsanto Co is trying to line up buyers for assets worth up to $8 billion to appease competition authorities before making a fresh takeover approach for Swiss Syngenta, possibly within three weeks, industry sources said.

** Shares of Avon Products Inc soared as much as 20 percent after an apparently non-existent firm based in a remote archipelago in the Indian Ocean said it had offered to buy the cosmetics company for almost three times its market value.

** Russia's Vimpelcom and Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing's Hutchison Whampoa are in talks to merge their Italian mobile phone businesses in a joint venture, marking further telecoms industry consolidation in Europe. [ID: nL5N0Y44JI]

** Telecommunications tower operator Crown Castle International Corp said it would sell its majority-owned Australian unit, CCAL, to a group of investors led by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets for about A$2 billion ($1.62 billion) in cash.

** The state of Western Australia plans to sell the country's fourth largest port, Fremantle Port, its premier said on Thursday, in a bid by the resource-rich state to raise funds as demand from its main customer China wanes.

** China's privately-owned CEFC China Energy Group Ltd has taken a 5 percent stake in Czech-Slovak J&T Finance Group, an initial step in a partnership of the investors focused on finance and energy, J&T said.

** Dish Network Corp, Cogent Communications Holdings Inc and advocacy groups are asking U.S. regulators to restrict AT&T Inc's power over online video and other content as part of its proposed purchase of DirecTV .

** South African labour unions said on Thursday they will oppose a proposal to partially privatise power utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd, limiting options for the government to shore up the cash-strapped firm and resolve an energy crisis.

** Malaysia's oil and gas services firm Dayang Enterprise Holdings Bhd is raising its stake in its unit Perdana Petroleum Bhd to 35.51 percent from 29.77 percent, opening the way to a mandatory general offer to take over the latter.

** Shares in South Africa's Basil Read Holdings jumped more than 6 percent after the construction group said it would sell its energy unit and was in talks to shut down an engineering division under plans to offload non-core assets.

** Moncler's shareholder Eurazeo is placing a 7.8 percent stake in the Italian luxury down jacket maker at a price of 17.0-17.5 euros per share, traders said on Thursday.

** U.S. investment company Dodge & Cox has raised its stake in Italy's Saipem to strengthen its position as the oil service company's No. 2 shareholder, according to filings.

Italian oil and gas group Eni is again looking to cut its stake in Saipem after putting on hold a plan to sell down its oil services unit due to a slide in oil prices, Eni Chairman Emma Marcegaglia said in a newspaper interview.

** China Vanke said on Thursday it would form a partnership with Dalian Wanda Group to jointly acquire land and develop real estate projects.

** Standard Chartered Plc is seeking buyers for its Hong Kong pension business valued at about $350 million in a deal that would also involve a 15-year distribution agreement with the new owner, people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

** Private equity firm Advent International will back its acquisition of Dutch conveyor belts maker Ammeraal Beltech with around 300 million euros ($342.81 million) of leveraged loans, banking sources said.

** Greece has asked three firms to submit binding bids by September for a majority stake in the country's biggest port, Piraeus, a senior privatisation official told Reuters, unblocking a major asset sale.

** With more than 100 million euros ($114.05 million) in its war chest, UDG Healthcare Plc is seeking acquisitions to expand its contract outsourcing and healthcare communications business, company executives said.

** The Slovenian government has decided to keep a stake of at least 25 percent in the country's biggest bank Nova Ljubljanska Banka, its largest fuel retailer Petrol and drug firm Krka, the finance minister said.

** The chairman of Autogrill said a break-up of the Italian motorway and airport caterer was possible and would be aimed at favouring mergers and acquisitions though no news is to be expected in the short term.

** Chilean bank CorpBanca said a deal with Brazil's Itau Unibanco last year now considerably undervalues it, casting fresh doubt on the troubled merger between the two Latin American lenders.

** Royal Dutch Shell Plc will consider small additions to its North America oil and gas business, despite ruling out large acquisitions after its deal to buy BG Group Plc , Marvin Odum, director of Shell's Americas exploration and production business, said in an interview Wednesday.

** Chipmaker Cypress Semiconductor Corp said it offered to buy Integrated Silicon Solution Inc for $19.75 per share in cash, trumping an offer by a Chinese consortium led by Summitview Capital.

** The auction for bankrupt electronic retailer RadioShack's brand and customer data has closed with the Standard General hedge fund posting a winning bid of $26.2 million after objections piled up to their sale.

($1 = A$1.2320) ($1 = 0.8768 euros) ($1 = 0.6338 pounds)

(Compiled by Rohit T.K. and Anya George Tharakan in Bengaluru)