Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions

March 25 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 2000 GMT on Wednesday:

Merck MRK.N said it would buy biotech Terns Pharma TERN.O in a deal valued at up to $6.7 billion, as the drugmaker races to bolster its cancer pipeline ahead of the looming patent loss for its blockbuster therapy Keytruda. nL4N40D0XY

NatWest NWG.L is selling its human resources advisory business Mentor to private equity-backed Empowering People Group, the British lender said, as it streamlines operations to focus on core banking and wealth management. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. nL4N40D13Z

Fincantieri FCT.MI is scouting for deals to speed up its expansion in the fast-growing underwater business, the head of the Italian shipbuilder said. nL8N40D18C

German satellite maker OHB OHBG.DE is working on a share sale, potentially allowing minority investor KKR KKR.N to reduce its stake, Bloomberg News reported. nL4N40D1UD

German private equity fund Aurelius is interested in buying the Belgian unit of French retailer Carrefour CARR.PA, Brussels-based L'Echo newspaper reported, citing unidentified sources. nL1N40D08W

Bain Capital said it would launch an open offer on April 6 to purchase a 26% stake in Indian non-bank lender Manappuram Finance MNFL.NS from public shareholders. nL4N40D0JT

Australia's Pepper Money PPM.AX said it has rejected the takeover proposal from Challenger CGF.AX as the offer was not "reasonably capable of execution", a week after the bidders lowered the price, citing worsening market conditions. nL4N40C24K

Victory Capital VCTR.O said on Tuesday it had withdrawn its roughly $8.6 billion proposal to buy Janus Henderson JHG.N, exiting a drawn-out bidding war hours after Nelson Peltz's Trian Fund Management and General Catalyst raised their offer for the asset manager. nL4N40C10B