Benzinga's M&A Chatter for Thursday January 19, 2012

The following are the M&A deals, rumors and chatter circulating on Wall Street for Thursday January 19, 2012:

:

EZCORP

announced Thursday that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a 60% ownership interest in Prestaciones Finmart, S.A. de C.V., SOFOM, E.N.R., a specialty consumer finance company headquartered in Mexico City. Under the terms of the definitive agreement, EZCORP will pay $38.7 million in cash to the existing stockholders of Crediamigo and will contribute an additional $12 million to the capital of the company alongside $8 million that will be contributed by certain of the minority shareholders. This additional capital will be used to repay existing indebtedness and provide working capital. EZCORP will be obligated to pay the existing stockholders additional amounts on each of the first and second anniversaries of the closing if certain financial performance targets are achieved during 2012 and 2013. Closing of the transaction is subject to the receipt of certain third party consents and satisfaction of other customary conditions, and is expected to occur on or about January 31, 2012. EZCORP closed at $27.16 Thursday, a gain of 1.34% for the day on 1.5 times the average daily volume.

:

AT&T

and Verizon

are among the companies seeking to acquire Akamai Technologies

, according to sources. The acquisition price is rumored to be $40 or more. Akamai last had takeover chatter on December 2, 2011. A company spokesperson had no comment regarding the rumor. Akamai Technologies closed at $32.69 Thursday, a gain of 0.86% for the day on about the average daily volume.

:

AT&T

to acquire Dish Network

. A frequent pairing since the T-Mobile deal fell through, the rumor last appeared 2 days ago. Dish Network closed at $29.99 Thursday, a gain of 3.20% for the day on about the average daily volume.

:

Toshiba (

) to acquire SanDisk

for a price in excess of $60 per share. Some analysts were giving SanDisk a price target in the $65 to $70 range back in November. Neither company could be reached for comment. SanDisk closed at $52.68 Thursday, a gain of 1.17% for the day on about the average daily volume.

:

Tencent (

) to acquire Youku

for $34 per share, according to comments out of Credit Suisse. Youku recently signed a content deal with 20th Century Fox. Youku closed at $20.62 Thursday, a gain of 4.78% for the day on more than twice the average daily volume.

:

China Mobile

to acquire Deutsche Telekom (

), according to sources. No details were mentioned. Deutsche Telekom closed at $11.63 Thursday, a gain of 0.61% for the day on twice the average daily volume.

:

eResearch Technology

is preparing for a sale of the company, according to

. A company spokesperson would not comment on the rumor. eResearch Technology closed at $5.35 Thursday, a gain of 10.31% for the day on 6 times the average daily volume.

:

Chicos FAS

to be acquired by private equity for $15.50 per share. The deal was first mentioned a week ago. Chicos FAS closed at $11.71 Thursday, a gain of 2.36% for the day on about the average daily volume.

:

NetApp

has been approached with takeover bids, according to

. A company spokesperson could not be reached for comment. NetApp closed at $37.51 Thursday, a gain of 8.25% for the day on 2.6 times the average daily volume.

:

Samsung (

) to acquire Research in Motion

, according to

. The rumor appeared yesterday and was denied by a Samsung spokesperson.

's Jonathan S. Geller

Thursday that he stands by the story. Research in Motion closed at $17.57 Thursday, a gain of 1.68% for the day on 2.6 about the average daily volume.