Nov 17 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers,

acquisitions and disposals were reported by 1030 GMT on Monday:

** HICL Infrastructure ( HICLF ) and The Renewables

Infrastructure Group Ltd ( RWFRF ) will merge to form the UK's

largest listed infrastructure investment company worth about

3.98 billion pounds ($5.2 billion), the companies said.

** Swedish utility Vattenfall said it had agreed to sell its

electricity distribution business in Britain, Vattenfall

Networks, to Eclipse Power.

** British utility Castle Water has returned with an

improved bid for struggling firm Thames Water, offering a cash

injection of at least 1 billion pounds ($1.32 billion) above

current proposals, The Times reported.

** MS&AD subsidiary Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance will acquire

an 18% equity stake in U.S.-based asset manager Barings for

about $1.44 billion, the company said .

** Bezeq Israel Telecom said its mobile unit Pelephone

signed a preliminary deal to buy all of rival HOT Mobile for 2.1

billion shekels ($652 million) in cash from Patrick Drahi's

Altice International.

** French oil major TotalEnergies said it has agreed to

acquire 50% of Energetický a průmyslový holding's (EPH) flexible

power generation platform in Western Europe in a

5.1-billion-euro ($5.9 billion) all-stock transaction.

** Spanish construction company ACS has agreed to sell

the transportation business of its Australian subsidiary UGL to

Japan's Sojitz Corporation for over 560 million euros ($650

million), Spanish newspaper El Economista reported, citing

sources familiar with the talks.

** Cosmetics giant L'Oreal said it has taken a

minority stake in mass-market Chinese skincare brand Lan,

marking its second investment in recent months in China, where

local brands have grown rapidly.

** Tokyo Gas ( TKGSF ), Japan's largest city gas supplier, said

it sold its U.S.-based subsidiary, TVL LLC, involved in gas

development and production to Grayrock Energy for $255 million.

(Compiled by Rajarshi Roy and Arnav Mishra in Bengaluru)