Wall Street's M&A Chatter From June 22-25: Alcobra, Etsy, Sprouts Farmers Market, Whole Foods

The following are the M&A deals, rumors and chatter circulating on Wall Street for Friday, June 23, through Sunday, June 25, 2017.

Whole Foods Reportedly Received No Other Bids

The Rumor:

Wal-Mart Stores Inc WMT is not considering making a bid for Whole Foods Market, Inc. WFM, according to a source as reported by Reuters. Another source said Whole Foods had not received any offers other than the one made by Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN as of Friday.

A Whole Foods spokesperson told Benzinga "we don't have anything to add at this time."

Whole Foods closed at $42.94 on Friday, down $0.26.

Sprouts Farmers Market M&A Chatter Involving Walmart

The Rumor:

Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market Inc SFM rose as high as $22.44 Friday on unconfirmed market chatter of a potential offer from Walmart. There has been unusual option activity in Sprouts since the announcement of the acquisition of Whole Foods by Amazon.

Both analysts and traders see Walmart targeting Sprouts to counter the Amazon-Whole Foods deal.

Sprouts Farmers Market closed at $22.01, up $0.46.

Report PE Firms have Approached Etsy on a Take-Private Deal

The Rumor:

Private equity firms have approached Etsy Inc ETSY, according to a report by DealReporter. The M&A blog had reported earlier this month that the Brooklyn-based e-commerce platform had hired Goldman Sachs as an advisor for their strategic review, which was confirmed in May.

TPG and Dragoneer reported 13D filings regarding their stake in Etsy prior to the strategic review announcement.

Etsy closed at $15.24, up $0.56.

Alcobra Hires Ladenburg Thalmann to Explore, Evaluate Strategic Alternatives

The Strategic Review:

Alcobra Ltd ADHD announced that its Board of Directors has established a Special Committee to explore and evaluate strategic alternatives, including a potential acquisition, merger, business combination. Alcobra has hired Ladenburg Thalmann as a financial advisor for this process.

Alcobra closed at $1.12, unchanged.