The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 1000 GMT on Monday:

** Allied Universal, a U.S company handling security and facility services, has agreed to buy rival company U.S Security Associates (USSA) for around $1 billion. The acquisition was announced by French investment company Wendel, which has a stake in Allied Universal.

** Orange, France’s biggest telecoms group, is buying Basefarm Holding in a deal worth 350 million euros ($409 million) based on enterprise value, to boost its presence in cloud computing services.

** South Africa-based mobile telecommunications company MTN Group Ltd said its Dubai subsidiary sold its Cyprus business to Monaco Telecom S.A for 260 million euros($304 million).

** Warwick Holding GmbH, a unit of Morgan Stanley Infrastructure, announced a cash takeover offer for shares of VTG it does not already own at 53 euros ($61.97) apiece.

** Large shareholders of Thyssenkrupp and Kone have held talks on a potential merger of the elevator businesses of the two companies, according to a German daily.

** State-run Life Insurance Corp of India’s (LIC’s) board approved a proposal to acquire a 51 percent stake in IDBI Bank , in a move that will provide the embattled lender much-needed capital to set aside for bad loans.

** John Laing Infrastructure Fund said it was in talks with a consortium of funds about a possible cash buyout offer that could value the company at 1.41 billion pounds ($1.9 billion).

** Russia’s TCS Group, the parent company of Tinkoff Bank, said it had acquired a stake in Kassir.ru, one of Russia’s largest ticket sales companies. (Compiled by Arunima Banerjee in Bengaluru)