Wall Street's M&A Chatter From March 20

The following are the M&A deals, rumors and chatter circulating on Wall Street for Monday, March 20, 2017.

Betaville's Ben Harrington Reports Renewed Takeover Chatter in Hartford Financial

The Rumor:

Betaville's Ben Harrington mentioned M&A chatter surrounding Hartford Insurance Group (NYSE: HIG) in a report on Monday. On March 9, a report circulated that Zurich Insurance was possibly looking to acquire the U.S. insurer.

Hartford Financial closed at $48.26, down $0.52.

Ant Financial Considers Raising Offer for MoneyGram

The Rumor:

Ant Financial said it’s considering raising its bid for MoneyGram International Inc. (NASDAQ: MGI), according to a report from Bloomberg. That follows MoneygGram's statement earlier, that after that an unsolicited takeover bid by Euronet could be a better deal.

Ant Financial offered $13.25 per share in cash to acquire MoneyGram back in January. Euronet Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: EEFT) countered with a $15.20 per share offer, which MoneyGram said “could reasonably be expected” to result in a superior proposal.

Ant Financial has four days to respond to the offer and will either counter with a higher offer or wait until Euronet finishes carrying out its due diligence before submitting an updated bid, according to a source.

MoneyGram closed at $16.43, up $0.14.

EU Commission Has Cleared GE's Purchase of LM Wind Power

The Clearance:

The European Commission announced it has given the green light cleared General Electric's (NYSE: GE) acquisition of Danish rotor blade maker LM Wind Power. The EC said the combined company would stil face competition in Europe from Siemens, Vestas, Nordex and Senvion.

GE closed at $29.74, down $0.14.