Benzinga's M&A Chatter for Thursday March 14, 2013

The following are the M&A deals, rumors and chatter circulating on Wall Street for Thursday March 14, 2013:

:

Shares of Life Technologies

spiked higher in late trading Thursday, on a

story that LIFE was launching full auction, according to sources. A February 2 report mentioned Thermo Fisher

, GE

and Danaher

, as potential buyers. Life Technologies announced on January 18, it had retained Deutsche Bank and Moelis & Company to assist in its annual strategic review. Macquarie said on Janaury 30, they thought Thermo Fisher would buy LIFE for $80 per share. A spokesperson for Life Technologies declined comment on today's report. Life Technologies closed at $63.54 Thursday, a gain of 2% on average volume.

:

Smith‪field Foods

confirmed on March 8, that its Board of Directors received a memorandum from shareholder Continental Grain indicating that the company should consider splitting into three separate companies: hog production, fresh pork and packaged meats, and international. Smithfield said that its board, in consultation with its financial and legal advisers, would review the proposal in due course. A report Thursday from

, said Smithfield did not yet have a plan to break-up the company. A Smithfield spokesperson declined comment beyond the March 8 press release. Smithfield Foods closed at $26.23 Thursday, a loss of $0.12 on 1.5 times average volume.

:

BMC Software

has reportedly attracted interest from lenders for a potential LBO, according to

. Last week

reported that KKR

and TPG were possibly interested in a deal. Shareholder Elliott Management has been pressuring BMC to make a deal. A spokesperson for BMC Software was not available for comment. BMC Software closed at $44.29 Thursday, a gain of 1.5% on higher than average volume.