Merger Monday: Nine Deals You Might Have Missed

• Monday's M&A and corporate activity featured nine notable deals.
• Sectors that saw activity range from utilities, REITs, media and more.
• Private companies, including Uber, also shared the spotlight.

U.S. equities were trading nearly flat early Monday afternoon despite a healthy dose of M&A and corporate activity making the headlines.

1. Duke Energy Corp DUK has agreed to acquire Piedmont Natural Gas Company, Inc. PNY for $4.9 billion, or $60 a share. The two companies are key partners in the $5 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline project that will be the first major natural gas pipeline in Eastern North Carolina.

2. Ctrip.com International, Ltd. (ADR) CTRP, Qunar Cayman Islands Ltd QUNR, and Baidu Inc (ADR) BIDU announced a three-way agreement in which Baidu has agreed to sell its stake in Qunar to Ctrip.

3. Equity Residential EQR has agreed to sell 72 properties to Starwood Capital for nearly $5.4 billion. Equity Residential said it will use most of the proceeds to pay a special dividend between $9 and $11 per share.

4. Bluescope Steel, an Australian based producer of metal coated and painted steel buildings products, has agreed to acquire Cargill's 50 percent stake of North Star for $720 million.

5. ConAgra Foods Inc CAG sale of its Ralcorp business hit a bump in the road, as the New York Post said that its final selling price could fall below the $2.5 billion to $2.7 billion expected range. Back in June the company expected to sell the unit for $3.0 billion to $3.5 billion.

6. Walt Disney Co DIS is close to acquiring a stake in Vice Media, according to a report by New York Post last week.

7. AutoNation, Inc. AN, the largest new-car retailer, is in talks to acquire Samuels Auto Group, the 79th-largest dealership group with a reported revenue of nearly $735 million in 2014, according to Automotive News.

8. Uber is planning to raise around $1 billion through venture capital firms. The New York Times noted this will be the company's eighth round of financing and places a $60 billion to $70 billion valuation on the firm.