Benzinga's M&A Chatter for Tuesday March 6, 2012

The following are the M&A deals, rumors and chatter circulating on Wall Street for Tuesday March 6, 2012:

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AmerisourceBergen Corporation

announced Tuesday that it has signed a definitive agreement to purchase World Courier Group, a privately held leading global specialty transportation and logistics provider for the biopharmaceutical industry, for $520 million in cash. The purchase price is subject to a customary working capital adjustment. The acquisition is expected to be neutral to the Company's fiscal year 2012 earnings, and $0.06 to $0.10 accretive in fiscal 2013. The transaction is subject to certain regulatory reviews and other customary closing conditions, and is expected to close in the third quarter of fiscal 2012, which ends June 30, 2012. AmerisourceBergen closed at $36.28 Tuesday, a loss of 0.74% on almost 1.3 times the average daily volume.

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Cadence Bancorp announced Tuesday that it has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase Encore Bancshares

in an all-cash transaction. Under terms of the definitive agreement, Cadence will pay $20.62 per share, or approximately $250 million for the approximately 12.1 million outstanding shares of Encore, equating to 2.4x price to tangible book value multiple. Certain members of the Board of Directors of Encore have provided proxies in support of the transaction. The transaction has been approved by the Boards of Directors of both companies and is expected to close during the second half of 2012. The transaction is subject to customary conditions including shareholder and regulatory approvals. Encore Bancshares closed at $20.19 Tuesday, a gain of 35.41% on 108 times the average daily volume.

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As previously announced, on February 23, 2012, Kenneth Cole Productions

received a non-binding proposal from Kenneth Cole, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of the Company and the holder of approximately 47% of the Company's outstanding common stock (representing approximately 89% of the voting power), to acquire all of the outstanding shares of the Company's Class A common stock that he does not currently directly or indirectly own for $15.00 per share in cash. In response, the special committee of independent directors established by the Company's board of directors delivered a letter to Mr. Cole requesting that he reconsider his position that he is unwilling to consider any alternative proposals. On March 2, 2012, Mr. Cole responded by letter that he did not intend to change his position. On March 1, 2012, the special committee retained BofA Merrill Lynch as its independent financial adviser to assist it in evaluating and determining the Company's response to Mr. Cole's proposal and, if the special committee deems it appropriate, to assist it in considering any alternative transactions. Kenneth Cole Productions closed at $15.79 Tuesday, a loss of 0.13% on 3 times the average daily volume.

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Lincoln Electric Holdings

announced Tuesday that it has acquired Weartech International, a privately-held producer of cobalt-based hard facing and wear-resistant welding consumables. Weartech is headquartered in Anaheim, California, with manufacturing plants in Anaheim and Port Talbot, Wales. The company has annual sales of approximately $40 million and employs 140 people combined at both locations. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Lincoln Electric closed at $45.01 Tuesday, a loss of 2.02% on 1.5 times the average daily volume.