Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions

July 3 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 2000 GMT on Thursday:

** Italian lender BPER EMII.MI said that it has increased its bid for smaller rival Popolare di Sondrio BPSI.MI, valuing the bank at 5.44 billion euros ($6.39 billion), according to Reuters' calculation. nL4N3T017J

** U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter Venture Global Inc VG.N announced that Petronas PGAS.KL has agreed to buy 1 million metric tons of LNG from its CP2 project, its first new CP2 customer in two years. nL4N3T00XL

** Investment firm Thoma Bravo has agreed to acquire Olo in an all-cash deal valuing the restaurant software provider at about $2 billion, the company said. nL4N3T00UW

** Zurich Insurance Group has agreed to acquire Toronto-based cyber insurtech Boxx Insurance, which will operate as a standalone entity after the transaction. nL6N3T00KR

** Expansive intermediary Specialist Risk Group (SRG) has announced the acquisition of Newcastle-based MGA Generation Underwriting from WF Risk Group. nL6N3T00J0

** Specialised life insurance group Athora is in talks to acquire Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC), valuing the UK insurer at about 5.7 billion pounds ($7.78 billion), Luxembourg-based major shareholder Reinet said. nL4N3T00DZ

** Private equity firm Carlyle Group is preparing to offload up to a 10% stake in India's Piramal Pharma , online news portal Moneycontrol reported, citing sources. nL4N3T00QL

** Life and pensions company Chesnara has agreed to buy HSBC's UK life insurance business for 260 million pounds ($355 million) in cash, Chesnara said. nL4N3T00ED

** Luxembourg-based investment vehicle Reinet Investments said it was in advanced talks with Athora Holding to sell its nearly 50% stake in UK insurer Pension Insurance Corporation. nL4N3T00D2

** Activist investor Starboard Value has built an over 9% stake in online travel firm Tripadvisor , a person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. nL4N3SZ1IA

** Santander's SAN.MC plan to buy TSB for 2.65 billion pounds ($3.61 billion) and boost its position in the UK came together only a few weeks ago, after the Spanish bank had been considering a possible exit from Britain, three sources close to the process said. nL1N3T005I

** The Ardonagh Group has continued the build-out of its operations in Asia with the acquisition of a majority stake in Apex Insurance (Holdings) Limited in Hong Kong. nL6N3T00AS

** Global agribusiness Bunge Global said it officially closed a long-delayed deal to merge with Glencore-backed Viterra on Wednesday, two years after announcing the $34 billion mega-deal. nL1N3SZ0Z1

** A $7.38 billion bid by a unit of Toronto-listed miner Gold Reserve GRZ.V was named preliminary winner of an auction of shares in the parent of Venezuela-owned refiner Citgo Petroleum, organized by a U.S. court to pay creditors for debt defaults and expropriations in the South American country. nL4N3T00HN

** Property developer China Vanke's 000002.SZ biggest shareholder, state-owned Shenzhen Metro, will provide a loan of up to 6.2 billion yuan ($865.78 million) and has agreed to extend existing loans totalling 890 million yuan, it said. nL4N3T00LG