Market Chatter- Corporate finance press digest- Jan 7

Jan 7 (Reuters) - The following corporate finance-related stories were reported by media:

* Driven Brands Inc, the owner of franchised U.S. automotive repair chains including Maaco and Meineke Car Care, is exploring a sale that could value it at more than $600 million, according to several people familiar with the matter.

* Lloyds Banking Group wants Britain's financial regulator to grant it a waiver from new rules requiring banks to have separate boards of directors for their retail and investment operations, sources said.

* India's AGS Transact Technologies, partly owned by U.S. private equity firm TPG Capital, is set to file an application for an initial public offering to raise up to $200 million, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

* Malaysian state investor 1Malaysia Development Bhd missed the repayment of a 2 billion ringgit ($563 million) bridge loan that was due end-December, two people close to the matter said on Tuesday.

* Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras aims to write off all of an expected multi-billion-dollar loss stemming from a corruption scandal when it releases unaudited third-quarter results this month, a source with direct knowledge of the company's thinking told Reuters.

* Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund, India's seventh largest fund house in terms of assets, might acquire the Indian operations of Deutsche Mutual Fund. Both parties are in an advanced stage of the due-diligence process, Business Standard reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. (http://bit.ly/1BFZAzJ)

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($1 = 3.5830 ringgit) (Compiled by Shivam Srivastava in Bengaluru)