The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 1000 GMT on Thursday:

** Canada's No. 3 lender Bank of Nova Scotia agreed to buy ING Groep's Canadian online bank for C$3.1 billion ($3.14 billion), taking advantage of a rare opportunity to grab market share in the country's crowded retail banking space.

 ** China Baoxin Auto Group Ltd has agreed to buy NCGA Holdings Ltd, a high-end car dealership based in Beijing and backed by global asset manager Apollo Group, for $305 million, Baoxin said in a statement on Thursday.

** Gleacher & Co Inc, the investment bank founded by merger and acquisition veteran Eric Gleacher, is looking for a buyer and has approached at least one rival brokerage, Bloomberg News reported.

** DuPont is nearing a deal to sell its car paint unit to private equity firm Carlyle Group LP as early as this week, three people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, marking the end of an 8-month-long auction.

** Debt-mired JJB Sports Plc put itself up for sale on Thursday and warned investors their shares may be worthless, placing the sports goods retailer at risk of becoming another big-name British retail casualty.

** Germany's Metro is in talks to sell the Turkish and eastern European operations of its Real supermarket chain, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday.

** Guggenheim Partners is nearing a deal to buy Dick Clark Productions as "American Idol" host Ryan Seacrest and his private equity partners have opted out of the auction of the company, media reports said.

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