Wall Street's M&A Chatter From March 30: Digital Ally, Rio Tinto-Alcoa, NextEra

The following are the M&A deals, rumors and chatter circulating on Wall Street for Thursday, March 30, 2017.

Rio Tinto May Bid for Alcoa

The Rumor:

Private Bankers are said to be working on financing for Rio Tinto RIO to acquire Alcoa Corporation AA, according to unconfirmed market chatter circulating on Thursday. There was activity in Alcoa calls ahead of the rumor this week, including the weekly $34, May $34 and July $31 calls.

Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton BHP have been mentioned as potential buyers for Alcoa on multiple occasions over the past 10 years.

Arconic ARNC was spunoff from Alcoa and began trading as a stand-alone company on November 1, 2016.

Alcoa closed at $33.49, up $0.58.

NextEra, Oncor Takeover Rejected By Texas PUC

The Rejection:

Members of the Public Utility Commission of Texas said Thursday they wouldn't approve NextEra's NEE acquisition of Oncor Electric Delivery Company, saying it wasn't in the public interest. Formal voting will occur in April.

NextEra announced last July an agreement to acquire EFH’s approximately 80 percent indirect interest in Oncor for a total enterprise value of approximately $18.4 billion.

NextEra closed at $128.13, down $2.42.

Taser Could Acquire Digital Ally

The Analyst Comments:

On March 27, during Digital Ally's DGLY Q4 earnings call, the company mentioned its ongoing patent suit with Taser TASR, filed in January 2016. WestPark Analyst Ishfaque Faruk told Benzinga if Digital Ally wins then it would either enter a license agreement with or be acquired by Taser. Faruk says either outcome would be huge for Digital Ally, while not impacting the larger Taser to the same extent.

Taser closed at $23.22, up $0.58. Digital Ally closed at $4.25, up $0.05.