Benzinga's M&A Chatter for Thursday May 2, 2013

The following are the M&A deals, rumors and chatter circulating on Wall Street for Thursday May 2, 2013:

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Shares of F5 Networks

spiked higher in early trading on Thursday on reports of a possible bid by Oracle

or Cisco

, according to unconfirmed sources. The rumored bid is $100 per share. F5 was the subject of a takeover rumor involving Cisco in May 2012. Spokespersons for F5, Oracle and Cisco were not available for comment. F5 Networks closed at $74.50 Thursday, a gain of $0.38 on almost average volume.

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Shares of Rackspace

traded higher Thursday on chatter of a potential bid by IBM. Raxspace has reportedly hired Goldman Sachs as an advisor to handle a deal, according to unconfirmed sources. A Rackspace spokesperson declined comment on the rumor. An IBM spokesperson was not available for comment. Rackspace closed at $49.99 Thursday, a gain of 2% on average volume.

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Shares of Oil States International

surged higher Thursday on a report it had cancelled out of ISI's Bermuda Energy Conference on May 7-10th. OIS is still scheduled to present at the Susquehanna Energy Conference on May 13-14th. Oil States International closed at $91.99 Thursday, a gain of 2.5% on 3 times average volume.

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The Hain Celestial Group

announced Thursday the acquisition of Ella's Kitchen Group Limited and the formation of the Global Infant, Toddler & Kids Division under Hain Celestial US. Ella's Kitchen is a manufacturer and distributor of premium organic baby food under the Ella's Kitchen brand. It generated approximately $70 million in sales in calendar year 2012 and is expected to be accretive to Hain Celestial's earnings in fiscal year 2014 by $0.05 to $0.08 per diluted share. Details of the transaction were not disclosed. Hain Celestial Group closed at $94.89 Thursday, a loss of $0.73 on average volume.