April 25 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers,

acquisitions and disposals were reported by 0930 GMT on

Thursday:

** Shares of Hipgnosis Songs Fund ( HPGSF ) climbed after

Apollo-backed Concord outbid a proposal by private equity giant

Blackstone, launching a bidding war for the owner of

music rights of artists, including Shakira and Blondie.

** Saudi Arabia's STC Group and sovereign fund PIF

may bid for the Austrian unit of Spanish mobile phone tower

operator Cellnex, El Economista newspaper reported on

Wednesday evening citing unidentified industry sources.

** Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) said it had

signed an agreement to buy a 49% stake in a 644 megawatt

portfolio of Spanish solar plants from Iberdrola for

203 million euros ($217.5 million).

** BHP Group ( BHP ) said it had made a $38.8 billion bid

for Anglo American, proposing a deal that would create

the world's biggest copper miner and sending its smaller rival's

shares sharply higher.

** Japanese chip material maker Shin-Etsu Chemical ( SHECF )

said it will launch a tender offer for Mimasu Semiconductor

Industry's ( MSMCF ) shares in a 86 billion yen ($553 million)

deal.

** A consortium of Hong Kong's CK Infrastructure ( CKISF ),

CK Asset ( CHKGF ), and Power Assets ( HGKGF ) will acquire a

Northern Ireland gas distribution network operator, Phoenix

Energy, for an enterprise value of about HK$7.4 billion ($945.3

million).

** Malaysian conglomerate Axiata Group and

Indonesian group PT Sinar Mas are going ahead with plans to

merge their telecom operations in Indonesia to create a $3.5

billion entity, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar

with the matter.

** Laboratory service provider Labcorp said on

Wednesday it will acquire Softbank-backed Invitae

Corp's assets auctioned through a voluntary

bankruptcy protection process, a few months after the genetic

test maker filed for bankruptcy.

** Hess Corp ( HES ) on Wednesday said its board has set

April 12 as the record date for the determination of the

stockholders entitled to vote on the proposed merger with

Chevron Corp. ( CVX )

** Blackstone has agreed to buy Tropical Smoothie

Cafe, the private equity firm said on Wednesday, in a deal that

a source said valued the restaurant chain at $2 billion.

** International Business Machines ( IBM ) will buy

HashiCorp ( HCP ) in a deal valued at $6.4 billion, the company

said on Wednesday, expanding its cloud-based software products

to tap into an AI-powered boom in demand.

(Compiled by Rajarshi Roy and Anuja Bharat Mistry in Bengaluru)