Courtesy of Benzinga.
The following are the M&A deals, rumors and chatter circulating on Wall Street for Monday August 4, 2014:
Report Gannett to Acquire Rest of Cars.com for $1.8B
The Rumor:
Gannett (NYSE: GCI), has agreed to buy out the other companies that own Cars.com for $1.8 billion, according to Bloomberg Gannett currently owns a 27% stake in the auto website. A deal could be announced as soon as Tuesday, according to a source.
Gannett currently owns a 27% stake in Cars.com.
A Gannett spokesperson declined to comment, while a representative of Cars.com owner, Classified Ventures, was unavailable for comment.
Gannett closed Monday at $34.32, a gain of more than 4%.
Roche to Acquire Santaris Biopharma for $250M Upfront Payment
The Rumor:
Roche (OTC: RHHBY) announced Monday that it has agreed to acquire privately-held Santaris Pharma for an upfront cash payment of $250 million, plus up to $200 million, based on certain predetermined milestones. The deal is expected to close in August 2014.
U.S.-traded Roche shares closed Monday at $36.01, a loss of $0.26.
LINN Energy Announces $340M Acquisition from Pioneer Natural Resources
The Deal:
LINN Energy (NASDAQ: LINE) and LinnCo (NASDAQ: LNCO) announced Monday that LINN has agreed to acquire approximately 235,000 net acres in the Hugoton Basin from Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE: PXD) for $340 million. The assets currently produce ~40 MMcfe/d, ~60% natural gas, with a shallow base decline of approximately six%. Total proved reserves are estimated to be ~340 Bcfe. There are ~1,200 producing wells and LINN has identified 180 future drilling locations and 150 recompletion opportunities.
The acquisition is expected to close Q3 of 2014.
LINN Energy closed Monday at $30.87, a gain of 2.5%, while Pioneer Natural Resources closed up 2.75% at $222.41.
Peoples Bancorp to Acquire NB&T Financial Group for $31.00/Share in Cash, Stock Deal
The Deal:
Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ: PEBO) and NB&T Financial Group (NASDAQ: NBTF) announced Monday that Peoples will acquire NBTF in a stock and cash merger. Under the terms of the agreement, shareholders of NBTF will receive 0.9319 shares of Peoples common stock and $7.75 in cash for each share of NBTF common stock. Based upon the volume weighted average closing price of Peoples’ common stock for the twenty trading days ending August 1, 2014, the transaction is valued at $31.00 per share or approximately $109 million in aggregate, including payment in cash for outstanding options.
The deal is expected to be completed in Q4 of 2014 or Q1 of 2015.
NB&T Financial closed Monday at $20.98, and traded at $31.00 after-hours.
