Adds: Boston Scientific, Talen Energy, MOL, Estithmar Holding Updates: - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 1430 GMT on Thursday:
** Boston Scientific said it will buy medtech firm Penumbra in a deal valued at about $14.5 billion to expand its portfolio of cardiovascular devices, in the largest acquisition by the Massachusetts-based company in two decades.
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** Talen Energy TLN.O said on Thursday it would buy about 2.6 gigawatts of natural gas-fired generation capacity from private equity firm Energy Capital Partners for $3.45 billion, doubling its expected annual generation and strengthening its position in the PJM market that operates in Mid-Atlantic and Midwest U.S.
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** Hungarian oil group MOL is expected to sign the first key deal during its talks to buy a majority stake in Serbia's Russian-owned NIS oil company in the coming days, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said.
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** Qatari group Estithmar Holding is set to take control of Syria's Shahba Bank and take a 30% stake in Syrian International Islamic Bank, four people familiar with the matter said, marking the first foreign banking acquisitions in Syria since the fall of former leader Bashar al-Assad.
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** GCP Capital Partners-backed Alkeme Insurance has made five acquisitions in the past quarter to expand its P&C offerings and employee benefits capabilities across the U.S., the company announced on Tuesday.
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** U.S. soft drinks giant Keurig Dr Pepper launched its $18 billion all-cash takeover bid for coffee and tea group JDE Peet's , setting the stage for a global coffee company that could rival market leader Nestle .
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(Compiled by Rajarshi Roy and Sanskriti Shekhar in Bengaluru)
((Rajarshi.Roy@thomsonreuters.com))