The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported on Wednesday:

Germany's Siemens agreed to sell the bulk of its water technologies business to private equity group AEA Investors for 640 million euros ($862 million). 

Propane gas supplier NGL Energy Partners LP said it would buy Gavilon LLC, a pipeline company partly owned by funds managed by Soros Fund Management, for $890 million to expand its terminal business. 

Penn West Petroleum Ltd said it aimed to sell non-core assets worth $1.5 billion to $2 billion before 2015 as a part of a plan to focus on fewer fields centered on the Cardium field in Alberta. 

Germany's SolarWorld is close to taking over one of Bosch's solar panel plants, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters, as the car parts supplier seeks to cut its losses in the solar sector. SolarWorld and Bosch are in talks about the latter's photovoltaics plant in Arnstadt in Germany and a deal could be announced as early as this week, the sources said.

Office Depot Inc, the no. 2 U.S. office retailer, on Tuesday closed its deal to buy smaller rival OfficeMax Inc and named the two company's existing chief executives as co-CEOs of the combined company. 

Blackstone Group LP and KKR & Co LP are among the buyout firms vying for Brickman Group Holdings Inc, the largest U.S. commercial landscaping company up for sale for around $1.5 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. 

Malaysian builder Gamuda Holdings has offered to buy out fellow shareholders in highway toll operator Kesas Holdings for 875 million ringgit ($276 million). Gamuda, which owns 30 percent of Kesas, said in a statement released to the Kuala Lumpur stock exchange late on Monday that it wants to pay cash to buy out three other investors in an offer that expires Nov. 18. 

Africa's top bullion producer, AngloGold Ashanti, is "trying to close a sale" for its small Navachab operation in Namibia and is cutting 430 jobs at its troubled Obuasi mine in Ghana, its chief executive said on Wednesday. 

BlackBerry Ltd's decision to accept a $1 billion cash injection from a group of investors led by Canadian financier Prem Watsa shocked other potential bidders for the smartphone maker and has left some investors crying foul. Qatar Holding LLC is among a handful of investors that have put money into BlackBerry's $1 billion convertible debt offering, a source familiar with the financing plan said on Wednesday. 

Swiss fund-of-hedge-funds manager Gottex will form a joint venture with China's VStone Asset Management, to further its aim to invest in Asia and raise capital from the region. 

Network equipment maker Cisco Systems Inc said on Wednesday it will buy out its majority-owned data center technology start-up Insieme for a maximum cost of $863 million as it looks to protect its core business from new competition. 

SunEdison Inc broke even in the third quarter after posting two straight quarterly losses and said it could spin off some solar power plants next year into a new publicly listed company. The company is focusing on its higher margin business of developing solar farms and already has plans to spin off its semiconductor business in a $250-million initial public offering in the first quarter of 2014.

Hedge fund Elliott International has built up a stake of almost 12 percent in German drugs distributor Celesio, currently the subject of an $8.3 billion takeover bid by U.S. rival McKesson. 

British credit data provider Experian said it would buy U.S. healthcare data firm Passport Health Communications for $850 million, continuing its drive to expand internationally and invest in new products. 

PineBridge Investments, a New York-based money manager, has acquired a campus operated by Dubai-based schools operator GEMS Education, it said on Wednesday, signaling investor interest in the Gulf's fast-growing education sector. Under the terms of the sale-leaseback agreement, GEMS Education will lease a school campus for a term of over 20 years, PineBridge said in a statement, without disclosing the value of the transaction or the name of the specific property. 

Talisman Energy Inc said on Wednesday that it will look for a partner to help develop its properties in the emerging Duvernay shale field in Alberta as it reconsiders plans to sell its holdings in the northern portion of the field.