Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions

(Adds: Evri, Asahi Group, Mankind, Occidental Petroleum, Kroger, Endesa, Paramount, EssilorLuxottica, Liberty Steel, Signa Prime Selection; Updates: Helmerich & Payne, Stellantis)

July 25 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 2000 GMT on Thursday:

** Private equity investor Advent International said that it has agreed to sell UK parcel delivery firm Evri to funds managed by affiliates of Apollo.

** Asahi Group plans to sell its struggling restaurant business, Nadaman, to a Japanese peer as the country's biggest brewer looks to exit the segment to focus on alcoholic and other beverages, Nikkei reported.

** Indian drugmaker Mankind Pharma said it would acquire Bharat Serums and Vaccines Ltd in a deal valued at around 136.30 billion rupees ($1.63 billion), including debt.

** Oilfield services firm Helmerich & Payne Inc will acquire Britain's KCA Deutag International for $1.97 billion in cash, making the combined company one of the biggest rig providers in the Middle East, the companies said. nL4N3JH1GQ]

** U.S. oil producer Occidental Petroleum is nearing a deal to sell its assets in the Barilla Draw region of Texas to Permian Resources for about $1 billion, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

** The proposed $25 billion merger of Kroger and Albertsons has been halted until the Colorado District Court rules on a lawsuit filed to block the deal that is expected to push up grocery prices, State Attorney General Phil Weiser said.

** Spanish power utility Endesa said it has sold to Abu Dhabi's Masdar a 49.99% stake in the company controlling its solar power installations in Spain for 817 million euros ($887.10 million).

** A Paramount Global investor has sued to block its merger with Skydance Media, saying the deal would cost its shareholders $1.65 billion, according to a lawsuit filed in Delaware's Chancery Court on Wednesday.

** The head of eyewear company EssilorLuxottica said Meta had informed him that it might take a stake in the company, adding that he would welcome such a step.

** There are options to maintain some operations at Czech steelmaker Liberty Ostrava, Czech government ministers said, as a potential buyer presented plans for secondary production.

** Signa Prime Selection AG plans to sell its 100% stake in SIGNA Prime Great Britain GmbH, including the Selfridges flagship store in London, as well as the Selfridges store in Manchester, the company said.

** Carmaker Stellantis has agreed to sell a majority stake in its robotic unit Comau to One Equity Partners, in a deal that has drawn scrutiny from Italy's government.

** Bally's Corporation has agreed to be acquired by its largest stockholder, Standard General, in a deal that values the casino and gaming company at $4.6 billion, including debt.

** Grab, Southeast Asia's biggest ride-hailing and food delivery firm, has called off its proposed acquisition of Singapore's third-largest taxi operator, Trans-cab, according to a statement from Singapore's competition watchdog.

** New York Community Bancorp's unit Flagstar Bank is selling its residential mortgage servicing business to non-bank mortgage platform to Mr. Cooper for nearly $1.4 billion, it said.

** Singapore's Cyan Renewables, which operates vessels for offshore wind farms, said it has bought MMA Offshore for A$1.1 billion ($726 million) in the largest takeover deal in this renewables segment in the Asia Pacific region so far this year.

** 3D Investment Partners has offered to become a majority shareholder in Tohokushinsha and take it private in a deal that values the Japanese film company at as much as $575 million.

** Unilever said it has sold its stake in Qinyuan Group, also known as Truliva, without disclosing financial terms of the sale. (Compiled by Rajarshi Roy, Harshita Mary Varghese and Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru)