UPDATE 3-Deals of the day -- mergers and acquisitions

(Adds MetroPCS, PNC Financial and others)

Nov 1 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals involving European, U.S. and Asian companies were reported by 2000 GMT on Thursday.

(For Reuters columns on deals, click on [DEALTALK])

** Altria Group Inc (MO.N) said it would acquire cigar maker John Middleton Inc from privately held Bradford Holdings for $2.9 billion in cash as it continues to expand its U.S. business beyond cigarettes.

To read more, please double click on [nWEN2134]

** MetroPCS Communications Inc (PCS.N) said on Thursday it withdrew a proposal for a stock-for-stock merger with Leap Wireless (LEAP.O) saying it has not "been able to engage Leap in meaningful negotiations." [nN01308599]

** Japan's GCA Holdings Corp 2126.T, a mergers and acquisitions advisory firm, said it will buy U.S. peer Savvian LLC in a stock swap deal worth $780 million, seeking a bigger slice of growing cross-border deals. [nT343614]

** Navigation device maker Garmin (GRMN.O) owns 5.02 percent of Dutch digital map maker Tele Atlas TA.AS, for which it has made an unsolicited 2.3 billion-euro ($3.3 billion) offer, a regulatory filing showed on Thursday. [nWEA5813]

** Tele Atlas TA.AS, which received an unsolicited rival takeover bid by Navigation device maker Garmin (GRMN.O), said that TomTom (TOM2.AS) has five days to raise its existing offer for the company. [nWEA5824]

** Williams Partners L.P. (WPZ.N) said it signed a letter of intent with its parent Williams Cos Inc (WMB.N) to buy an interest in a cryogenic facility and related assets in Wamsutter for $750 million. [nWNAS9700]

** Edward Lampert's hedge fund has raised its stake in AutoNation Inc (AN.N), pushing shares of the nation's largest car dealership chain up nearly three percent. [nN31325049]

** Australian farm chemicals company Nufarm Ltd (NUF.AX) confirmed it has held talks about a potential takeover of the company and said it had received a letter relating to those discussions. [nSYD173330]

** Japanese music producer Avex Group Holdings (7860.T) said its affiliate has acquired a 24.78 percent stake in Hong Kong listed movie company Golden Harvest Entertainment (1132.HK). [nT271973]

** Spanish bank BBVA (BBVA.MC) has sold 73 million shares of Telefonica (TEF.MC) -- equivalent to 1.54 percent of the telecom firm's shares -- in the open market, according to a filing to the U.S. stock market regulator. [nL01315054]

** London-listed, Russia-focused mid-sized oil producer Imperial Energy IEC.L said an investor had approached it to buy a quarter of its stock via a new share issue and at a discount to the current price. [nWLB3380]

** PNC Financial Services Group Inc (PNC.N), a fast-growing Northeast U.S. regional bank, said it agreed to acquire Albridge Solutions Inc, a provider of enterprise wealth management services. [nWNAS9799 ]

** Diversified manufacturer 3M Co (MMM.N) said it acquired abrasive manufacturer Standard Abrasives to expand its abrasive product offering for the metalworking industry. [nWNAS9819] (Compiled by Tina Kwan in Singapore, Swagata Gupta and Bijoy Koyitty in Bangalore)