(Adds Pamplona, IWG, Prada, Thyssenkrupp, Sika, Hainan, Inmarsat, TrainOSE, Dialog Semiconductor, Comcast, National Bank of Greece, Linde)

June 8 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 2000 GMT on Friday:

** Industrial gas companies Linde AG and Praxair Inc have slashed the bidding pool for the more than $4 billion worth of assets they are jointly selling in a move that will favor Japan’s Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corp, people familiar with the matter said.

** National Bank of Greece (NBG) has received one binding offer from Chinese group Gongbao for a majority stake in its insurance subsidiary, the lender said.

** U.S. cable company Comcast is set to gain unconditional EU antitrust approval for its bid to buy European pay-TV company Sky, two people familiar with the matter said.

** Dialog Semiconductor is in early talks to merge with U.S. touch-pad technology company Synaptics Inc, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

** Greece received an improved offer from Italian railway operator TrainOSE for railway maintenance company ROSCO, a source close to the procedure told Reuters.

** British satellite firm Inmarsat rejected a takeover approach from U.S. firm EchoStar, saying it significantly undervalued the company.

** Hainan Airlines,, China’s fourth-biggest carrier, plans to acquire aviation assets valued at 10.48 billion yuan ($1.64 billion) in five firms to boost its route network and competitive edge, it said.

** Swiss chemicals group Sika could spend up to $1 billion on acquisitions in a year to speed up its growth over the next five years, Chairman Paul Haelg told Reuters.

** Thyssenkrupp has considered a sale of its shipbuilding unit Marine Systems in the past, the subsidiary’s management said in a internal note to staff obtained by Reuters.

** Buyout group Pamplona is viewed as the front runner to buy German home shopping TV network HSE24 from investor Providence, after other suitors dropped out, two people close to matter said.

** Prada CEO Patrizio Bertelli ruled out that the family who controls Italy’s biggest luxury goods group could sell down its stake and said his son Lorenzo may one day head the company.

** IWG Plc said that U.S. property investment firm Starwood Capital and British private equity fund TDR Capital will now have until June 29 to make firm offers for the company or walk away.

** Airbus SE is set to close a deal to take a controlling stake in Bombardier Inc’s CSeries jetliner program, effective July 1, the companies said, in a move expected to kickstart the European planemaker’s ability to put its marketing and cost-cutting muscle into the Canadian plane program. ** Russia-China Investment Fund, established by Russian sovereign fund RDIF and China Investment Corp, said it planned to invest in Russian lender Sovcombank jointly with a consortium of leading Middle Eastern funds. ** EU antitrust regulators will decide by July 12 whether to wave through Irish budget airline Ryanair’s bid for a 75 percent stake in the rebranded former Niki airline Laudamotion, a filing on the European Commission site showed. ** Murray & Roberts has asked South Africa’s competition authorities to block its biggest shareholder from fully exercising its voting rights in its proposed tie-up with rival construction firm Aveng, its spokesman said. ** Russia’s Otkritie bank, bailed out by the central bank last year, aims to sell a stake of up to 20 percent in 2021, the bank’s management said. ** UK Climate Investments, a joint venture between the Green Investment Group and the UK government’s Department for Energy and Climate Change, will acquire a 40 percent interest in a 185 megawatt portfolio of solar assets in India, it said. ** Australia’s Atlas Iron Ltd said Mineral Resources Ltd, which is trying to take over the iron ore producer, would allow Atlas to hold talks with other potential buyers. ** The German finance ministry declined to comment on a report that Deutsche Bank was considering a merger with Commerzbank. (Compiled by Akshara P and Manas Mishra in Bengaluru)