Wall Street's M&A Chatter From March 20

The following are the M&A deals, rumors and chatter circulating on Wall Street for Monday, March 20, 2017.

Betaville's Ben Harrington Reports Renewed Takeover Chatter in Hartford Financial

The Rumor:

Betaville's Ben Harrington mentioned M&A chatter surrounding Hartford Insurance Group HIG in a report on Monday. On March 9, a report circulated that Zurich Insurance was possibly looking to acquire the U.S. insurer.

Hartford Financial closed at $48.26, down $0.52.

Ant Financial Considers Raising Offer for MoneyGram

The Rumor:

Ant Financial said it’s considering raising its bid for MoneyGram International Inc. MGI, according to a report from Bloomberg. That follows MoneygGram's statement earlier, that after that an unsolicited takeover bid by Euronet could be a better deal.

Ant Financial offered $13.25 per share in cash to acquire MoneyGram back in January. Euronet Worldwide Inc. EEFT countered with a $15.20 per share offer, which MoneyGram said “could reasonably be expected” to result in a superior proposal.

Ant Financial has four days to respond to the offer and will either counter with a higher offer or wait until Euronet finishes carrying out its due diligence before submitting an updated bid, according to a source.

MoneyGram closed at $16.43, up $0.14.

EU Commission Has Cleared GE's Purchase of LM Wind Power

The Clearance:

The European Commission announced it has given the green light cleared General Electric's GE acquisition of Danish rotor blade maker LM Wind Power. The EC said the combined company would stil face competition in Europe from Siemens, Vestas, Nordex and Senvion.

GE closed at $29.74, down $0.14.