Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions

(Adds Unilever, CDP, Shoprite, MTS and Simpson Spence Young)

Dec 15 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 2100 GMT on Friday:

** Unilever has agreed to sell its margarine and spreads business to U.S. private equity firm KKR for 6.83 billion euros ($8.04 billion) to concentrate on faster growing products.

** China's top oil and gas company CNPC is considering taking over Total's stake in a giant Iranian gas project if the French company leaves Iran to comply with any new U.S. sanctions, industry sources said.

** Chinese regulators have begun an antitrust review of Toshiba Corp's $18 billion deal to sell its memory chip unit, two months after the Bain Capital-led buying consortium applied for approval, the Nikkei business daily said.

** South African tycoon Christo Wiese called off plans to sell his stake in grocer Shoprite to Steinhoff's African arm, a day after he resigned from Steinhoff's board in the midst of an accounting scandal.

** Russia's biggest mobile phone operator MTS is in talks to buy event ticketing company Ticketland for around 3 billion roubles to 3.5 billion roubles ($51 million-$60 million), two sources told Reuters.

** Leading British-based ship broker Simpson Spence Young (SSY) has acquired smaller Danish peer Bidsted & Co, the companies said, in the latest shake-up by players looking for growth as the industry heads for recovery.

** Italy's state holding company CDP and Intesa Sanpaolo have signed a non-binding agreement to join ArcelorMittal's bid to buy Italian steelmaker Ilva, a source close to the matter said.

** Property developer Sunac China Holdings Ltd said it would sell HK$7.82 billion ($1 billion) worth of new shares to its major shareholder, the second share placement in five months after it vowed to slash its debt ratio.

** Russian food retailer O'Key Group said on Friday it had reached an agreement to sell its supermarket business to X5 Retail Group and would focus on developing compact hypermarkets and low-cost neighborhood stores.

** Deutsche Telekom will buy the Dutch business of Sweden's Tele2 and combine it with its T-Mobile Nederland to give it more muscle to challenge rivals KPN and Ziggo.

** Insolvent Austrian airline Niki may lose its valuable runway slots within a week if no buyer is found quickly for its assets, increasing pressure on its administrators to agree a deal, the chief of Niki's works council said.

** Activist investor Carl Icahn urged SandRidge Energy Inc's stockholders to vote against the oil and gas company's plan to issue shares for its proposed acquisition of Bonanza Creek Energy.

** Ryanair may bid for assets of Niki, Europe's biggest budget carrier said, as administrators scramble to find a buyer for the insolvent Austrian airline before it loses its valuable runway slots.

** Japan's antitrust regulator has approved a merger of Daishi Bank Ltd and Hokuetsu Bank Ltd, in a decision that pit considerations of competition against regional lenders' struggle to survive.

** Czech energy utility CEZ is in exclusive talks with one unidentified bidder to sell its remaining assets in Bulgaria, board member Tomas Pleskac told Reuters.

** Siemens said it has agreed to buy Luxembourg-based Fast Track Diagnostics to boost its molecular-testing offering, one of the areas it is keen to expand as it prepares to float its healthcare unit, Healthineers.

** Russian food retailer Magnit said it had halted talks to buy two smaller retail chains, Krasny Yar and Baton, owned by Siberian company ETK.

** Czech energy group EPH has acquired the Biomasse Italia and Biomasse Crotone biomass power plants in Italy from Bioenergie and Api Nova Energia, it said, part of a push into Europe's renewable market.

** Italy's Mediaset and France's Vivendi are set to ask a Milan judge to adjourn a Dec. 19 hearing over a failed pay-TV deal in view of a potential agreement, a source close to the matter said.

** Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd plans to invest 4.2 billion yuan ($636 million) in a 5 percent stake in Yonghui Superstores Co Ltd, the supermarket chain operator said.

** Malaysian property developer Eco World International Bhd said it had acquired a 70 percent stake in a dozen British sites, agreeing to pay 64.9 million pounds ($87 million) for half of the assets first.

** Thailand's finance minister said the ministry was considering a plan to offer tax incentives to encourage mergers among the country's commercial banks to create institutions able to compete with foreign banks, including regional competitors.

(Compiled by Ahmed Farhatha and Nikhil Subba in Bengaluru)