(Adds Markel Corp, Fincantieri, Noble Group, JPMorgan and Cargill; updates Snapdeal, Thyssenkrupp)
July 26 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 1320 GMT on Wednesday:
** The board of Indian e-commerce firm Snapdeal has agreed to a deal with bigger rival Flipkart for up to $950 million, two sources said on Wednesday, bringing the two a step closer to forming a combine to challenge Amazon.com's domestic growth.
** U.S. insurer Markel Corp said it would buy property and casualty insurer State National Companies Inc for about $919 million.
** Societe Generale has no merger plans with top Italian lender UniCredit, the chief executive of the French bank told Italian daily Il Sole 24 Ore.
** German consumer electronics retailer Ceconomy will become the largest shareholder in French music and book retailer Fnac Darty, marking its entry into France just weeks after it was spun off from Metro.
** French aerospace supplier Thales said it was in "constructive" talks with Airbus about the latter's bid to boost its services business, striking a conciliatory tone on an issue worrying several top suppliers.
** Thyssenkrupp's chief executive is pushing for a deal to fold its steel operations into a joint venture with India's Tata Steel as early as September, after two years of talks, sources told Reuters.
** HNA Group Co Ltd's $416 million investment in U.S. in-flight services firm Global Eagle Entertainment Inc has collapsed in the latest deal scuppered by a U.S. government panel, adding uncertainty to future Chinese acquisitions.
** BNP Paribas is to expand further in Italy by buying full control of CARGEAS from insurer Ageas, as the French bank looks to step up cross-selling of products in Italy, where the business has been impacted by a recession.
** Hutchison Telecommunications Hong Kong Holdings Ltd said it was in talks with various parties regarding a potential sale of its fixed-line assets.
** Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri will not go ahead with a plan to buy a stake in shipyard STX France if the Paris government backtracks on previously agreed conditions for the deal, Italian Industry Minister Carlo Calenda said.
** Commodities trader Noble Group announced a dramatic overhaul that will involve a partnership with rival Mercuria, as it flagged assets sales, efforts to more than halve its staff numbers and a crippling quarterly loss.
** JPMorgan Chase & Co, the biggest U.S. bank by assets, is planning to merge its UK-based private banking unit with its wider European wealth operation ahead of the UK's exit from the European Union, Sky News reported.
** Global commodities trader Cargill Inc is considering bidding for Pilgrim's Pride Corp, a U.S.-based chicken processor controlled by scandal-ridden Brazilian group JBS SA, newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo reported.
(Compiled by Divya Grover in Bengaluru)