Wall Street's M&A Chatter From January 25

The following are the M&A deals, rumors and chatter circulating on Wall Street for Wednesday January 25, 2017.

EU clears Abbott Acquisition of Alere Subject to Divestments

The Approval:

Alere Inc ALR confirmed that the European Commission has granted clearance for Abbott Laboratories ABT acquisition of Alere. Alere CEO Namal Nawana remains "confident that the merger will close according to the terms of the agreement."

Abbott announced on February 1, 2016, that it would acquire Alere for $56 per share in cash.

An Abbott spokesperson told Benzinga the company continues to gain regulatory approvals for the Alere acquisition, "but Alere clearly is not the company we agreed to buy and look forward to showing why that constitutes a material adverse event in court."

The EC said it accepted Abbott's offer to divest Alere's global Epoc, Triage and BNP reagents businesses as conditions for approval of the deal.

Alere closed Wednesday at $39.33, down $0.17.

Arctic Cat to be Acquired by Textron for $18.50/Share in Cash

The Deal:

Arctic Cat Inc ACAT announced it has signed a definitive merger agreement under which Textron Inc. TXT will acquire Arctic Cat in a cash transaction valued at approximately $247 million, plus the assumption of existing debt. Textron, through a wholly owned subsidiary, will commence a tender offer to purchase all outstanding shares of Arctic Cat for $18.50 per share in cash.

The completion of the acquisition is subject to customary conditions and regulatory approvals.

Arctic Cat closed at $18.55 on Wednesday, up 41.67 percent.

AltaGas Ltd. to Acquire WGL Holdings for $88.25/Share in Cash

The Deal:

WGL Holdings Inc WGL and AltaGas Ltd. ATGFF announced that the Boards of Directors of both companies have unanimously approved a plan of merger for WGL to be acquired by AltaGas for approximately $6.4 billion in cash. WGL shareholders will receive $88.25 in cash per WGL share.

The transaction is expected to close in Q2 of 2018 and requires approval from WGL shareholders, the Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia, the Maryland Public Service Commission and the Virginia State Corporation Commission.

WGL Holdings closed at $78.78 on Wednesday, and traded as high as $85.67 after-hours.