The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals involving European, U.S., Canadian and Asian companies were reported by 1000 GMT on Wednesday:

** Carl Icahn has withdrawn his $29-per-share offer to buy the remaining shares of U.S. oil refiner CVR Energy that he does not already own, the billionaire investor said on Tuesday.

** Mexican cement maker Cemex SAB de CV moved closer on Tuesday to wrapping up an ambitious refinancing deal to push back payment of $7.2 billion of debt, and also announced a planned asset sale that would give the company much-needed breathing room.

The company said it was looking to sell a minority stake in a Latin American unit, but did not give details of the size of the stake to be sold.

** Kraft Foods Inc said on Tuesday it would sell a majority stake in its 'Back to Nature' food brand to U.S. private equity firm Brynwood Partners for an undisclosed amount.

** United Parcel Service will extend the offer period for Dutch rival TNT Express to Nov 9 because antitrust conditions will not be met before the original deadline at the end of this month.

** Poland's top bank PKO BP is interested in buying assets in central and eastern Europe, but is not in any talks just yet, its Chief Executive Zbigniew Jagiello said.

** Indian tour operator Cox & Kings Ltd said on Wednesday Citigroup Inc's venture capital arm will invest $137.75 million in its UK unit.

** Buyout fund KKR & Co LP is in early stage discussions to launch a debt fund to invest in India that could raise between $750 million to $1 billion, sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

** Russia's VIS Construction Group is ready to invest at least 100 million euros ($125 million) in a share issue that could be launched by beleaguered Polish builder Polimex , daily Parkiet cited a source close to the Polish firm as saying.

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