Benzinga's M&A Chatter for Wednesday October 22, 2014

The following are the M&A deals, rumors and chatter circulating on Wall Street for Wednesday October 22, 2014:

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Shares of Riverbed Technology

spiked higher Wednesday, on a report from

that the company will contact buyers in a week. Riverbed did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Investor Elliott Management, who has been attempting to get the Riverbed board to sell, also did not respond. Riverbed closed Wednesday at $18.16, a gain of almost 1.5%.

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Shares of Gap Inc.

spiked higher Wednesday, on unconfirmed market chatter that the company had hired Goldman Sachs to explore strategic options. A Gap spokesperson declined comment on the rumor. Gap rose $0.13 Wednesday, to close at $36.77.

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GFI Group Inc.

confirmed Wednesday that BGC Partners, Inc.

has commenced its previously announced unsolicited tender offer to acquire up to 100% of the outstanding shares of GFIG for $5.25 per share in cash. The special committee will review the offer and will advise its stockholders of the formal positions of the Special Committee and the Board regarding the tender offer no later than November 4, 2014. The Board continues to support, the pending transaction with CME Group Inc.

of July 30. GFI closed up 1% Wednesday, at $5.18.