Wall Street's M&A Chatter From June 22: Potbelly, Yelp, Colgate-Palmolive

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

Investor Urges Potbelly to Explore Sale

The Investor Comments:

Potbelly Corp PBPB activist 4 percent shareholder Ancora Advisors said it wants the sandwich chain to makes some changes to its strategy or explore a sale. Ancora said in a letter to the Board it wants Potbelly to explore re-franchising a portion of its current restaurants, saying it would "generate a significant infusion of cash" and institute share buybacks. Short of those proposals, Ancora wants the company to explore a sale or going-private transaction.

Potbelly closed at $11.45, up $0.20.

Traders Circulate Chatter of Google in Talks to Acquire Yelp

The Rumor:

Shares of Yelp Inc YELP rose as high as $30.61 Thursday on unconfirmed market chatter of a potential $45 bid from Alphabet GOOGL. Yelp is the a frequent target of takeover chatter.

Yelp closed at $29.96, up $0.60.

Argus' Stephen Biggar Says Berkshire Could be Interested in Colgate-Palmolive

The Analyst Comments:

Argus analyst Stephen Biggar told Benzinga that Colgate-Palmolive Company CL is the type of company Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-B) would be interested in. According to a May 16 New York Post report, Colgate-Palmolive CEO Ian Cook could be open to selling the company for $100 per share.

Biggar said $85 billion, or $100 per share would be a bit high for a cash deal, but the deal could be accomplished using part debt.

Colgate-Palmolive closed at $75.53, down $0.15.