Benzinga's M&A Chatter for Monday June 16, 2014

The following are the M&A deals, rumors and chatter circulating on Wall Street for Monday June 16, 2014:

:

Level 3 Communications

and tw telecom

confirmed Monday that they have entered into an agreement, whereby Level 3 will acquire TW Telecom in a stock-and-cash deal valued at $40.86 per share based on market close as of June 13, 2014. TW Telecom stockholders will receive $10 cash and 0.7 shares of Level 3 common stock for each share of TW Telecom common stock that is owned at closing. The deal, which was rumored last week, is expected to close in Q4 of 2014. tw telecom shares closed Monday at $38.99. a gain of more than 7%, while Level 3 lost 4%, to close at $42.30.

:

Hillshire Brands

officially announced Monday, that its board of directors has voted to withdraw its recommendation of the pending acquisition of Pinnacle Foods

. The pending $63.00 per share all-cash proposal from Tyson Foods

is dependent upon the termination of the Pinnacle deal, and Hillshire's board is recommending a vote against the Pinnacle Foods transaction. Tyson acknowledged the Hillshire announcement, and stated that Pinnacle Foods may now immediately terminate this agreement and accept a $163 million termination fee, or it may insist Hillshire hold a shareholder meeting to vote on the Pinnacle transaction. Tyson hopes Pinnacle Foods will accept the termination fee. Hillshire Brands closed Monday at $61.97, a gain of $0.15. Tyson Foods lost $0.28 to close at $35.15 and Pinnacle Foods gained $0.30, to close at $33.34.

:

SanDisk

announced Monday, an agreement to acquire Fusion-io

for $11.25 per share in cash, for a transaction valued at approximately $1.1 billion. The deal expected close in Q3 of SanDisk's FY 2014. Fusion-io closed Monday at $11.36, a gain of 22%, while SandDisk gained 3.5% to close at $102.00.

:

Itay's GTECH

announced Monday, that it is engaged in preliminary, exploratory discussions with International Game Technology,

and has hired advisors to assist it in exploring a potential deal. IGT confirmed Monday, that its Board of Directors and senior management are currently engaged in exploring strategic alternatives, including a potential sale. No decision has been made regarding any particular alternative, and the company does not intend to discuss or disclose developments "until the Board has approved a definitive course of action."

reported on Friday, that several firms were considering bids for IGT, including Apollo Global Management

and Carlyle Group

. International Game Technology closed Monday at $15.64, a loss of $0.22.

:

Shares of Nuance Communications

spiked higher Monday, triggering a circuit-breaker halt, on a report from

that the company has held talks with Samsung

and PE firms regarding a potential sale. Carl Icahn is Nuance's biggest shareholder, with a 19% stake as of March 31, and has two members on Nuance's board. A spokesperson for Nuance declined comment on the rumor. Nuance Communications closed Monday at $18.76, a gain of almost 10%.

:

Shares of Shire

spiked higher Monday, on a report from

that the Irish biopharmaceutical company had hired Citigroup as an advisor to handle a potential sale. Shire has previously been approached for a potential deal by Allergan

, while Bristol-Myers Squibb

, Amgen

, Abbvie

, Gilead

and Biogen

are also said to be candidates. Shire closed Monday at $47.18, a gain of $0.33.

:

Kindred Healthcare

announced Monday that it will commence a cash tender offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of common stock of Gentiva Health Services

, beginning Tuesday, for $14.50 per share in cash, together with the associated preferred share purchase rights. Gentiva rejected Kindred's previous offer of $14.00 per share on May 15, saying it significantly undervalues the company. Gentiva adopted a shareholder rights plan or "poison pill" on May 23. It urged shareholders to take no action on this latest offer until the Board reviews the proposal and makes its recommendation. Gentiva closed Monday at $12.99, a gain of $0.10, while Kindred gained almost 1%, to close at $25.74.