Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions

(Adds Air Berlin, ADP, Lufthansa, Ascometal, CEFC, La Perla, Tati; Updates Crown Holdings, Tenet, Humana)

Dec 19 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 2100 GMT on Tuesday:

** Air Berlin's unit Niki can keep its valuable runway slots while Austria's Transport Ministry examines its insolvency filing, the airspace regulator said amid growing interest in the carrier from potential bidders.

** British Airways and Iberia parent IAG is again interested in Austrian holiday airline Niki after it filed for insolvency, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

** The French government is yet to decide on whether to privatise Paris airport operator ADP, the head of APE, which groups together the state's holdings in companies, said.

** Lufthansa is set to secure EU antitrust approval for its acquisition of insolvent Air Berlin's subsidiary LGW after agreeing to give up some Dusseldorf airport slots and not seek new ones, two people familiar with the matter said.

** Troubled French steelmaker Ascometal has drawn interest from four potential buyers, union officials said, with commodity group Liberty House and Swiss steel firm Schmolz + Bickenbach confirming their interest.

** China's CEFC group and eastern Europe's Penta Investments have made a joint bid for Time Warner's Central European Media Enterprises (CME), while Petr Kellner's PPF has dropped out of contention, sources said.

** The owner of Italy's La Perla has agreed one-month exclusive talks with China's Fosun over the sale of a majority stake in the luxury lingerie group.

** The French competition watchdog cleared the sale of Tati, the country's iconic cut-price shop, to domestic rival Gifi, on the condition it sold four stores.

** Consumer packaging company Crown Holdings Inc said it would buy Signode Industrial Group Holdings (Bermuda) Ltd, which specializes in transit packaging, from Carlyle Group LP in a deal valued at $3.91 billion.

** U.S. health insurer Humana Inc and two private equity firms agreed to buy home healthcare and long-term care operator Kindred Healthcare Inc for about $810 million, the latest expansion by an American health insurer into patient care.

** Restaurant chain operator Jack in the Box Inc said it would sell its Qdoba Restaurant Corp unit to funds affiliated with Apollo Global Management LLC for about $305 million cash.

** Tenet Healthcare Corp said it would explore a sale of its Conifer unit and cut $100 million more in costs, the latest measures to jolt its business amid mounting pressure from its largest shareholder.

** The Latvian government said it was buying an 18.31 percent stake in Conexus Baltic Grid, a gas transmission and storage operator, from German's Uniper Ruhrgas International GmbH, a step towards its goal of securing a majority stake in the company.

** Old Mutual is selling part of its UK asset management business, run by veteran investor Richard Buxton, to private equity firm TA Associates for 600 million pounds ($803 million), as it heads towards a break-up of the group.

** Germany's Delivery Hero, an online food ordering and delivery marketplace, is selling its foodpanda India business to Ola in return for shares in the Indian ride-hailing firm, the companies said.

** Belgian fresh and frozen foods company Greenyard NV said it was in advanced negotiations to acquire Dole Food Company, the world's largest fruit and vegetable producer, confirming a Reuters report.

** Singapore sovereign fund GIC Pte said it would acquire a 43 percent stake in a 34-storey office building in Tokyo's central district of Shinjuku for $558 million, in one of the largest property transactions in Japan this year.

** Offshore-focused McDermott International Inc said it would buy onshore-based Chicago Bridge and Iron NV (CB&I) to create an integrated construction and engineering services provider amid a stabilizing global oil market.

** NZME Limited, the owner of New Zealand's top-selling newspaper, said that the country's High Court upheld the competition regulator's decision to block its purchase of Fairfax Media Limited's New Zealand unit.

** Private equity firms Carlyle and MBK Partners are among the bidders for South Korean pharmaceutical company CJ HealthCare Corp in a deal estimated to be worth about 1 trillion won ($919.62 million), Korea Economic Daily reported.

** China Resources Power Holdings Co Ltd said it would team up with controlling shareholder China Resources National Corp to invest 600 million pounds ($802.56 million) for a minority stake in an offshore wind-farming firm in Britain. (Compiled by Taenaz Shakir and Tamara Mathias in Bengaluru)