Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions

March 28 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 0930 GMT on Friday:

** U.S.-based private equity firm KKR KKR.N and Japanese state-backed fund Japan Investment Corp (JIC) will acquire medical gear maker Topcon 7732.T in a tender offer buyout worth 348 billion yen ($2.31 billion), KKR said.

** British retailer WH Smith SMWH.L agreed to sell its UK high street business to Modella Capital for 76 million pounds ($98 million) to streamline its operations and create a pure-play global travel retailer.

** Nippon Steel 5401.T and U.S. Steel X.N are in active talks about a deal that would preserve their $14 billion merger and secure billions more in investments from the Japanese steelmaker into Rust Belt facilities, Semafor reported on Thursday.

** China-based Ninestar Corp 002180.SZ plans to sell printer and printing software maker Lexmark International II to Xerox XRX.O in a deal with an equity value of up to $150 million.

(Compiled by Rajarshi Roy and Padmanabhan Ananthan in Bengaluru)

((Padmanabhan.Ananthan@thomsonreuters.com))