Benzinga's M&A Chatter for Wednesday May 15, 2013

The following are the M&A deals, rumors and chatter circulating on Wall Street for Wednesday May 15, 2013:Hearing Chatter Cisco May Bid $75/Share to Acquire Red HatThe Rumor:
Shares of Red Hat (NYSE: RHT) rose early Wednesday on unconfirmed market chatter that Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) may bid $75 per share to acquire the Linux provider. IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) have both been previously rumored as potential buyers for Red Hat.Spokespersons for Red Hat and Cisco declined comment on the rumor.Red Hat closed at $54.16 Wednesday, a gain of 2.73% on 1.5 times average volume.Report Dish Lined Up 4 Banks to Finance $25.5B Bid for SprintThe Interview:
Dish Network (NASDAQ: DISH) has reportedly lined up four banks to provide financing for a $25.5 billion bid for Sprint (NYSE: S), according to Reuters. SoftBank (OTC: SFTBY) has agreed to buy a 70% share in Sprint for $20.1 billion. Dish founder Charlie Ergen said last week that his focus was on acquiring Sprint, and would consider selling the company altogether if he loses the Sprint deal.Sprint closed at $7.25 Wednesday, a loss of $0.01 on average volume.Report Cubist Bid $20/Share for OptimerThe Rumor:
Shares of Optimer Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: OPTR) surged higher late Wednesday, on a report from Reuters that Cubist Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: CBST) had made an offer of $20 per share for Optimer. The bid was made and rejected in the summer of 2012, according to sources.On Monday, Bloomberg reported that AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) and Cubist, were among companies that have submitted bids for Optimer.Optimer Pharmaceuticals closed at $16.18 Wednesday, a gain of 13.5% on almost 6 times average volume.