BUZZ-UK homebuilders rise as inflation data boosts rate cut hopes ** Shares of UK housebuilders .FTNMX402020 rise 1.8% as inflation picks up less than expected, boosting rate cut bets ** British consumer price inflation increased for the first time this year in July but remained smaller than expected due to a slow rise in services prices ** Crest N

UPDATE 3-UK homebuilder Bellway scraps bid for Crest Nicholson Crest shares fall 19%; Bellway stock gains 4% Bellway does not cite reason for walking away Crest says it is confident about its standalone prospects Updates share move in paragraph 3, adds analyst comments in 5-6 and 9 By Aby Jose Koilparambil Aug 13 (Reuters) - British homebuilder Bellway BWY.L has unexpectedly dropped its 720 million pound ($921 million) bid to buy smaller peer Crest Nicholson CRST.L , sending Crest's shares almos

Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions Adds Thoma Bravo, Recursion Pharmaceuticals, Bellway Aug 8 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 1330 GMT on Thursday: ** Thoma Bravo is preparing to explore options including a potential sale of ABC Fitness Solutions that could value the software provider for health clubs and gyms at about $3 billion including debt, according to people familiar with the matter.

Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions Aug 8 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 0930 GMT on Thursday: ** Swedish financial investor EQT EQTAB.ST said on Wednesday it will acquire a majority stake in Swiss cybersecurity and data protection company Acronis. nL1N3JU0FD ** U.S. private equity firm KKR & Co KKR.N will launch a tender offer for Japan's Fuji Soft 9749.T , the companies said, in a 558.4 billion yen ($3.8 billion) deal to take the soft

UPDATE 1-UK Stocks-Factors to watch on August 8 Adds new items, updates futures Aug 8 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening lower on Thursday, with futures FFIc1 down 0.3%. * BARRATT-REDROW DEAL: UK's competition regulator said its phase 1 review into homebuilder Barratt's BDEV.L 2.52 billion pound ($3.21 billion) all-stock deal to buy smaller rival Redrow RDW.L had raised concerns in the local area around a Barratt development.