Mergers and acquisitions

The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 1430 GMT on Friday:

** The Biden administration on Thursday moved to block Microsoft Corp's MSFT $69 billion bid to buy "Call of Duty" maker Activision Blizzard Inc (ATVI.O), throwing a stumbling block in front of the tech giant's plans to rapidly expand its portfolio of popular games and catch up to bigger rivals.

** Turkish fast delivery company Getir has closed its acquisition of German rival Gorillas in a deal that values the combined group at $10 billion, the Financial Times reported.

** Penguin Random House head Markus Dohle will step down at the end of the year after a U.S. judge blocked a planned $2.2 billion merger of the world's largest publisher and rival Simon & Schuster, the company said in a statement.

** Walgreens Boots Alliance WBA has sold some AmerisourceBergen Corp's (ABC.N) shares for proceeds of $1 billion, the U.S. drugstore chain said on Thursday, further cutting its ownership in the drug distributor, by 3% to about 17%.

** Port operator PSA International, fully owned by Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings, is considering selling its multi-billion dollar, 20% stake in the ports business of CK Hutchison Holdings 1, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

** Shareholders in Canada's Turquoise Hill (TRQ.TO) will vote on a Rio Tinto RIO $3.3 billion takeover offer that aims to give the Anglo-Australian miner more control over a giant Mongolian copper mine.

** Canadian oil and gas producer Crescent Point Energy Corp CPG said it would buy Kaybob Duvernay assets in Alberta from Paramount Resources Ltd POU for C$375 million ($275.49 million) in cash.

** Morrisons has completed a 220 million pounds ($269 million) sale and leaseback deal for seven logistics properties with asset manager ICG, the British supermarket group said.

** Eurobank EUROB, one of Greece's four largest lenders, said its Bulgarian subsidiary Postbank has agreed to acquire BNP Paribas' BNP personal finance operations in Bulgaria.

** Japan Industrial Partners, the preferred bidder to buy out Toshiba Corp (6502.T), has moved closer to securing financing from banks, three people with knowledge of the matter said.

** Australia's Nitro Software Ltd (NTO.AX) said it got a higher A$2 per share offer with a scrip alternative from private equity firm Potentia Capital, matching a rival bid from KKR Inc's KKR Alludo.

** Paris-based private equity fund Ardian sold its 15.6% stake in Spanish online travel booking company eDreams Odigeo EDR in a private placement to institutional investors for an undisclosed amount, eDreams said.

** Pendragon's (PDG.L) top investor Hedin Mobility has dropped its takeover pursuit of the British auto retailer, citing challenging market conditions and an uncertain economic outlook, sending its shares down 25%.

** Britain's competition watchdog is concerned Japan's Hitachi Ltd 6501 acquisition of France's Thales SA HO railway signalling business may result in higher fares for passengers, it said.