Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions

September 15 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 19:45 GMT on Monday: Italiana Petroli’s founding family has agreed to sell the oil refiner to State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) in a deal that will hand the group control of one of Italy’s largest petrol station networks, two sources said. HPS Investment Partners is weighing a sale of British financial advice platform Nucleus Financial Platforms, four people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Kazakh gold miner Solidcore Resources (COREK.AIXN) expects high gold prices and stock sales to offset most of a production decline caused by sanctions-related disruptions to concentrate shipments to Russia, its CEO said. California Resources (CRC.N) said it would buy rival Berry Corp (BRY.O) , hoping to create a bigger, more cost-efficient oil and gas producer in the most populous U.S. state as it eases its stringent environmental regulations. The Swiss upper house rejected a plan to submit all incoming UBS capital rules to parliament, clearing the way for the government to directly issue measures that could increase UBS’s (UBSG.S) core capital requirements by some $9 billion. Blackstone (BX.N) said it has agreed to buy a natural gas plant in Western Pennsylvania for nearly $1 billion, as the investment firm bets on rising U.S. electricity demand to power artificial intelligence technologies. Vans owner VF Corp (VFC.N) would sell its workwear brand Dickies for $600 million in cash to brand management company Bluestar Alliance, it said. Canadian oil sands producer MEG Energy (MEG.TO) on Monday urged shareholders to reject the sweetened takeover bid from its majority stakeholder Strathcona Resources (SCR.TO) , and reaffirmed support for sale to Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) . Rheinmetall (RHMG.DE) has agreed to buy Luerssen Group’s warship division, NVL, as the German defence group seeks to expand in Europe and tap increased military spending across the continent. Brazil’s cosmetic maker Natura (NATU3.SA) has entered into a binding agreement to sell Avon CARD, the company said in a securities filing, adding it continues to explore strategic alternatives for Avon International business. Kantar, the market research group owned by Bain Capital and advertising group WPP (WPP.L) , said on Monday it had appointed former Daily Mail and General Trust boss Paul Zwillenberg as its chief executive, replacing Chris Jansen. Canadian miner Alamos Gold (AGI.TO) said late Sunday that it will sell its Turkish subsidiary for $470 million to a Middle East-based mining company, ending a years-long $1 billion legal battle. A shareholder of UAE telecoms firm du (DU.DU) sold a 7.55% stake in the company for 3.15 billion dirhams ($858 million) through a secondary share sale, du said in a regulatory filing on Monday. British supermarket group Sainsbury’s (SBRY.L) said on Sunday it has terminated talks with Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com (9618.HK) over selling the Argos general merchandise retailer, a day after confirming discussions were underway. Brookfield Asset Management (BAM.TO) is in talks to buy Yes! Communities, a U.S. landlord of manufactured homes, from Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC for more than $10 billion, the Financial Times said on Sunday, citing unnamed sources. UniCredit (CRDI.MI) CEO Andrea Orcel said the Italian lender may consider the sale of its stake in Germany’s Commerzbank to a bank outside the European Union if it received a good offer that shareholders wanted, a German newspaper reported on Saturday. Italian gas grid group Snam’s (SRG.MI) acquisition of a stake in Germany’s largest independent gas transmission operator Open Grid Europe will not be finalised by end-September as scheduled, financial daily Il Sole 24 Ore reported on Saturday.