Dec 14 (Reuters) - Australian biopharmaceutical giant CSL Ltd on Tuesday applied for a trading halt in its shares ahead of an expected deal to buy Swiss drugmaker Vifor Pharma AG .

CSL had confirmed it was in talks to buy Vifor on Monday. Australian media have reported the deal could be worth $12 billion. (Reporting by Shashwat Awasthi in Bengaluru; Editing by Ramakrishnan M.)