Benzinga's M&A Chatter for Monday October 31, 2016

The following are the M&A deals, rumors and chatter circulating on Wall Street for Monday October 31, 2016:

GE to Acquire Baker Hughes

The Deal:

GE GE and Baker Hughes BHI announced Monday, that the companies have entered into an agreement to combine GE's oil and gas business with Baker Hughes to create a company with $32 billion of combined revenue and operations. Under the terms of the agreement, Baker Hughes shareholders will receive a special one-time cash dividend of $17.50 per share and 37.5% of the new company, while GE will own 62.5% of the company.

The transaction is expected to close in mid 2017.

Baker Hughes closed at $55.40 on Monday, down 6.29%.

Century Link to Acquire Level 3 Communications for $66.50/Share in Cash, Stock

The Deal:
CenturyLink CTL and Level 3 Communications, Inc. LVLT announced Monday, that their Boards of Directors have unanimously approved a definitive merger agreement under which CenturyLink will acquire Level 3 for $26.50 per share in cash and 1.4286 shares of CenturyLink stock for each Level 3 share they own, or $66.50 per Level 3 share in cash and stock.

The transaction is expected to close by the end of Q3 2017.

Level 3 Communications closed at $56.15 on Monday, up 3.89%.

SunCoke Energy to Acquire SunCoke Energy Partners for 1.65 SunCoke Share, Implied Val-ue $17.80

The Deal:
SunCoke Energy, Inc. SXC announced Monday, that it has submitted a proposal to the Board of Directors of the general partner of SunCoke Energy Partners, L.P. SXCP to acquire all of SXCP's common units not already owned by SXC, in exchange for approximately 1.65 new shares of SXC common stock for each SXCP common unit.

The proposal has been made to the Board of Directors of SXCP's general partner, which is an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of SXC. SXC expects that the Board of Directors of SXCP's general partner will delegate the authority to review and evaluate the proposal to its Conflicts Committee.

SunCoke Energy Partners closed Monday at $17.30, up 2.06%.

TeamHealth to be Acquire by Blackstone for $43.50/Share in Cash

The Deal:
TeamHealth Holdings, Inc. TMH announced Monday, that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by funds affiliated with Blackstone BX for $43.50 per share in cash. The merger agreement includes a "go-shop" period and is expected to close in Q1 of 2017.

TeamHealth closed Monday at $42.85, up 16.44%.

Cipher Pharmaceuticals Said to Consider Sale

The Rumor:
Cipher Pharmaceuticals Inc CPHR is said to have hired an investment bank to explore strategic alternatives, according to sources as reported by Reuters on Monday. The sources said a potential sale of the Canada-based company is being considered.

Cipher declined comment on the report.

Cipher Pharmaceuticals closed Monday at $3.70, up 6.04%.