The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals involving European, U.S. and Asian companies were reported by 2000 GMT on Wednesday. ** Johnson & Johnson will buy Swiss medical devices maker Synthes Inc for $21.67 billion, placing a big bet on growing its orthopedics business with one of the largest deals ever in the medical technology sector. ** Italian companies are not planning a counter-bid to French dairy group Lactalis' 3.4 billion euro ($4.99 billion) takeover offer for Italy's Parmalat , government sources said on Wednesday.
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