Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions

(Adds Acacia Research, Pioneer Merger Corp, UniCredit, Principal Financial Group, OpenSea, Jefferies Financial Group)

Jan 18 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 2100 GMT on Tuesday:

** Acacia Research, which is backed by activist investor Starboard Value, has reached out to Kohl's Corp to express its interest in making a bid for the retailer, two sources familiar with the matter said.

** Special purpose acquisition company Pioneer Merger Corp and investing app Acorns Grow have mutually terminated their $2.2 billion merger agreement, according to a regulatory filing.

** Italian bank UniCredit said it would no longer provide basic banking services to Asia Pacific units of its European clients under plans to streamline its international presence and cut costs.

** Insurer Principal Financial Group Inc is in advanced talks to sell two of its units, with capital reserves totaling $25 billion, to peer Talcott Resolution Life Insurance Co, according to people familiar with the matter.

** NFT marketplace OpenSea said it had bought Dharma Labs, a digital wallet for cryptocurrencies, for an undisclosed amount, and said Dharma's chief executive officer would become OpenSea's chief technology officer.

** Jefferies Financial Group Inc is abandoning an effort to raise a $1 billion fund to buy stakes in private equity fund managers, giving up on a niche and lucrative corner of asset management, people familiar with the matter said.

** Microsoft Corp said it would buy "Call of Duty" videogame maker Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion in cash, the largest deal in the sector making the Xbox maker the third-largest gaming company by revenue.

** Vivendi said it was investing in digital communication group Progressif Media through the purchase of an 8.5% stake from ZeWatchers, with the financial terms of this deal not disclosed.

** Private equity firm Affinity Equity Partners is this week launching the sale of its Burger King fast-food businesses in South Korea and Japan, in a deal that could fetch more than $1 billion, a person with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

** Brazilian health company Mater Dei said that its board of directors approved the purchase of the Institute of Plastic Surgery and Ophthalmology in the Midwestern state of Goias by its privately-held corporation RMDS.

** Italian infrastructure group Atlantia has agreed to buy Siemens' Yunex Traffic division for 950 million euros ($1.1 billion) to expand its cutting-edge transport services.

** France's TotalEnergies and Japan's Inpex Corp said that they had agreed to sell their interests in Angola's Block 14 B.V. to Angolan Company Somoil for an undisclosed sum.

** European private equity firm Ardian struck a deal to buy the majority of Italy's Biofarma Group from White Bridge Investments in order to boost further the international growth of the drug company, a statement said on Monday.

** China Cinda Asset Management Co Ltd scrapped a deal to buy a 20% stake worth about $944 million in fintech giant Ant Group's consumer finance arm because of pressure from state authorities, people with knowledge of the matter said.

** Britain's Clinigen Group Plc has agreed to a sweetened takeover offer by UK-based private equity firm Triton, valuing the pharmaceutical services firm at about 1.3 billion pounds ($1.77 billion).

** Norwegian telecom firm Telenor has agreed to sell its 51% stake in Myanmar's Wave Money, a digital payment service provider, for $53 million to a subsidiary of Yoma Strategic, the companies said in a joint statement on Monday. ($1 = 0.7345 pounds) (Compiled by Mehnaz Yasmin, Rajarshi Roy and Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru)