Benzinga's M&A Chatter for Thursday March 1, 2012

The following are the M&A deals, rumors and chatter circulating on Wall Street for Thursday March 1, 2012:

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Eastman Kodak Company (

) has announced that it has entered into an agreement with Shutterfly

, for the proposed sale of certain assets of its KODAK Gallery on-line photo services business for $23.8 million. The terms of the agreement include the transfer of Gallery customer accounts and images in the U.S. and Canada to Shutterfly. The agreement comprises the initial, stalking horse bid in a Court-supervised auction process under Section 363 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code that will ensure the maximization of value for the assets. Under the terms of the Agreement, Kodak will seek U.S. Bankruptcy Court approval of sale and auction procedures by late March. Under these proposed procedures, other potential buyers may submit alternative bids to Kodak and seek to establish the superiority of their alternative bid. Kodak is targeting completion of the sale process this spring. Shutterfly closed at $26.91 Thursday, but surged above $30 on the announcement after-hours.

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CVR Energy, Inc.

, a refiner and marketer of petroleum fuels and a majority owner of CVR Partners, LP

, a nitrogen fertilizer producer, announced today that its Board of Directors, in consultation with its independent financial and legal advisors, has unanimously determined that the unsolicited tender offer by entities controlled by Carl Icahn, to acquire all of the outstanding shares of CVR Energy for $30.00 per share in cash, plus a "contingent cash payment right," is inadequate and not in the best interests of its stockholders. CVR Energy closed at $27.75 Thursday, a gain of 1.98% on slightly more than the average daily volume.

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Verizon

is close to acquiring Netflix

for $150 per share, according to sources. The communications giant has been mentioned as the most likely to acquire the streaming video leader. Representatives of Netflix and Verizon both declined comment to Benzinga on the rumored deal. Netflix closed at $112.75 Thursday, a gain of 1.82% on 63% of the average daily volume.

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Piper Jaffray

is considering a possible takeover by a Chinese firm, according to sources. Piper stated in response to media attention that, in the ordinary course of business, it routinely evaluates corporate development ideas and opportunities. These include possibilities in the Asia market, such as a joint venture, as the company considers alternatives for improving the performance of its small Hong Kong-based subsidiary. As it considers these Asia alternatives, however, Piper Jaffray intends to remain an independent public company. Piper Jaffray closed at $25.03 Thursday, a gain of 1.83% on 3 times the average daily volume.

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VeriFone Systems

announced Thursday the acquisition of LIFT Retail Marketing Technology, the provider of a digital marketing system designed to increase sales for convenience stores. Financial terms were not disclosed. The acquired company will be incorporated into VeriFone's solutions portfolio as a product and services offering called LiftRetail Solutions. VeriFone LiftRetail integrates with all leading retail point of sale systems in the convenience store/petroleum segment, including VeriFone's Ruby SuperSystem and Topaz XL. Verifone Systems closed at $47.90 Thursday, a gain of 0.02% on 1.33 times the average daily volume.