Wall Street's M&A Chatter From February 22

The following are the M&A deals, rumors and chatter circulating on Wall Street for Wednesday, February 22, 2017.

Hearing M&A Chatter in Cree

The Rumor:

Shares of Cree, Inc. CREE spiked to a high of $27.97 as traders circulated unconfirmed market chatter of private equity interest. "Sources" say the maker of LED lighting could receive a bid of around $34 per share.

Cree announced announced February 16 the termination of its agreement to sell its Wolfspeed Power and RF division to Infineon Technologies due to regulatory concerns over national security.

Cree closed at $27.56 on Wednesday, up 1.55 percent.

ARRIS to Acquire Ruckus Wireless and ICX Switch Business for $800M in Cash

The Deal:

ARRIS International plc ARRS and Broadcom Ltd AVGO have entered into an agreement for ARRIS to acquire Brocade Communication Systems Inc.'s Ruckus Wireless and ICX Switch business for $800 million in cash consideration of $800 million, and is contingent upon the closing of Broadcom's acquisition of Brocade. That transaction is expected to close in Broadcom's FY Q3.

Arris rose 2.5 percent to close at $30.70.

GEO Group to Acquires Community Education Centers for $360M Cash

The Deal:

The GEO Group Inc GEO announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire Community Education Centers for $360 million in an all cash transaction, excluding transaction related expenses. The transaction is expected to close in Q2 of 2017.

Geo Group closed at $47.75 on Wednesday, up 3.44 percent.

EU Regulators Said Ready to Approve Dow/DuPont Merger

The Rumor

EU antitrust regulators are close to approving the $130 billion merger of Dow Chemical Co DOW and DuPont DD according to sources as reported by Reuters. The companies had agreed to sell DuPont's crop protection business and related R&D, and Dow's acid copolymers and ionomers business as a prerequisite to merger approval and made adjustments to the proposal following feedback from rivals and customers.

Sources say the EU competition regulator will not seek input from third parties regarding the adjustment and that is said to indicate that it will approve the deal.

Dow closed at $63.67 on Wednesday, up 4 percent. Dupont closed at $79.80, up 3.39 percent.