Benzinga's Weekend M&A Chatter

The following are the M&A deals, rumors and chatter circulating on Wall Street for Friday May 15 through Sunday May 17, 2015: Rumor of Interest from Microsoft in BlackBerry The Rumor:
Shares of BlackBerry BBRY spiked higher Friday, on a post from Betaville that Microsoft MSFT could be considering buying the Canadian smartphone maker for as much as $7 billion. Microsoft has reportedly hired Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs to investigate deal, Microsoft declined comment. BlackBerry shares rose $0.01 on Friday, to close at $10.33. Sorrento Therapeutics Announces Sale of Cynviloq for Up to $1.3B The Deal:
Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. SRNE announced Friday, that NantPharma, has agreed to acquire the rights to Cynviloq through the acquisition of Sorrento Subsidiary Igdrasol. Sorrento will receive more than $90 million in an up-front cash payment, plus up to $600 million in regulatory and $600 million in sales milestone payments. Sorrento has the option to co-develop, co-market Cynviloq on terms to be negotiated. Sorrento Therapeutics shares gained 13% Friday, closing at $13.01. FBI Investigating PTG Capital $18.75/Share Offer for Avon The Rumor:
The FBI is investigating what may be a bogus takeover bid for Avon Products Inc. AVP filed on Thursday, according to the Wall Street Journal. Avon shares were halted three times on circuit-breakers, as "PTG Capital Partners" filed to offer $18.75 per share for the cosmetics company. Avon says it did not receive an offer from PTG and believed the offer to be a hoax. The SEC is also reportedly investigating the matter. Avon shares lost 1.5% Friday, to close at $7.05. Axis Reportedly Won't Raise Offer for PartnerRe The Rumor:
Axis Capital Holdings won't raise its offer for PartnerRe PRE and believes its proposal of $132 per share in stock, plus a special dividend of $11.50 per share, is superior to the $137.50 all-cash offer from Italy's Exor Spa EXOSF, according to sources as reported by Reuters on Sunday. Spokespersons for Axis and PartnerRe declined comment. Exor is PartnerRe's largest shareholder, with a 9.32% stake. PartnerRe closed Friday at $134.23, a gain of $0.14. Apple Acquires Coherent Navigation The Deal:
Apple, Inc. AAPL has acquired GPS startup Coherent Navigation. The company's LinkedIn page stated: "Coherent Navigation has ceased operations at this time." Terms were not disclosed. Apple closed Friday at $128.77, a loss of $0.18.
Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
Comments
Loading...
Posted In: NewsRumorsAsset SalesM&AMovers
Benzinga simplifies the market for smarter investing

Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.

Join Now: Free!