March 20 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers,

acquisitions and disposals were reported by 1100 GMT on Friday:

** Unilever ( UL ) is in talks to sell its foods business to

smaller rival McCormick & Company ( MKC ), a potential deal that

would unite the British company's Hellmann's and Knorr brands

with the U.S. spice maker's Cholula hot sauce.

** Talks to sell Thyssenkrupp's steel division to

India's Jindal Steel International are not making progress and

the long-awaited deal must not be stalled for months, the German

company's deputy supervisory board chairman said.

** British cross-border payments processor CAB Payments ( CABPF )

said that it has rejected the recent all-cash offer from

financial services firm StoneX ( SNEX ), saying the proposal

undervalues the company and its future prospects.

** Buyout firm Bridgepoint is drawing up proposals for

a formal offer worth more than 1 billion pounds ($1.34 billion)

for British private hospital operator, Spire Healthcare,

Sky News reported on Thursday.

** Swiss drugmaker Novartis agreed to buy a breast

cancer drug candidate for up to $3 billion from U.S. biotech

firm Synnovation Therapeutics, adding a targeted therapy to its

pipeline of cancer drugs.

(Compiled by Rajarshi Roy and Dharna Bafna in Bengaluru)