Benzinga's M&A Chatter for Thursday September 26, 2013

The following are the M&A deals, rumors and chatter circulating on Wall Street for Thursday September 26, 2013:

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eBay Inc.

announced Thursday that it has agreed to acquire global payment platform Braintree for approximately $800 million in cash. The transaction is expected to close late Q4 2013. eBay closed at $56.64 Thursday, a gain of 4.5%.

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Shares of Tower Group

surged higher Thursday on a report from

that the company has hired JP Morgan as an advisor to assist in finding a buyer. On August 7, the company cancelled the release of its Q2 earnings report and conference call. A spokesperson for Tower Group was not available for comment. Tower Group closed at $8.17 Thursday, a loss of $0.05.

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Shares of Jones Group

fell sharply late Thursday on a report from

that KKR

was pulling out of the sale process, according to sources. KKR and Sycamore Partners were reportedly seeking a buyout of the full company. A spokesperson for KKR declined comment on the report. A Jones Group spokesperson was not available for comment Jones Group closed at $15.64 Thursday, a loss of $0.01.