Courtesy of Benzinga.
The following are the M&A deals, rumors and chatter circulating on Wall Street for Friday March 2, 2012:
Transatlantic and Alleghany Announce Preliminary Merger Consideration Election Results
The Deal:
Alleghany Corporation (NYSE: Y) and Transatlantic Holdings (NYSE: TRH) announced Firday the preliminary results of the elections made by Transatlantic stockholders regarding the form of merger consideration to be received in Alleghany’s pending acquisition of Transatlantic.
As previously announced, on November 20, 2011, Transatlantic entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger with Alleghany and Shoreline Merger Sub. Pursuant to the terms of the merger agreement, Transatlantic stockholders were entitled to elect to receive, for each share of Transatlantic common stock held, either shares of Alleghany common stock or cash consideration with a value equal to the sum of (i) 0.145 multiplied by the average of the closing sales prices on the NYSE for Alleghany common stock during the five trading days ending the day before the completion of the merger and (ii) $14.22, subject to proration in the event cash is oversubscribed or undersubscribed.
Transatlantic Holdings closed at $61.15 Friday, a gain of 0.49% on 71% of the average daily volume.
Alleghany Corporation closed at $328.50 Friday, a gain of 1.75% on almost 6 times the average daily volume.
Meredith Completes Acquisition of Allrecipes.com From Reader’s Digest
The Deal:
Meredith Corporation (NYSE: MDP) and The Reader’s Digest Association announced Friday that they have closed on the transaction for Meredith to acquire Allrecipes.com.
The transaction is valued at $175 million. Meredith plans to invest in Allrecipes.com to optimize the site for today’s growing online and mobile audiences. This investment spending, along with normal business seasonality, is expected to make the acquisition slightly dilutive to Meredith’s fiscal 2012 full-year financial performance. Meredith expects the acquisition will be modestly accretive to earnings per share and free cash flow in fiscal 2013.
Meredith has financed the transaction by securing private placement notes with an average weighted interest rate of 2.94 percent.
Meredith Corporation closed at $32.66 Friday, a loss of 2.04% on half the average daily volume.
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