Benzinga's M&A Chatter for Monday May 13, 2013

The following are the M&A deals, rumors and chatter circulating on Wall Street for Monday May 13, 2013:

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AsiaInfo-Linkage

and CITIC Capital Partners announced today a merger agreement under which AsiaInfo-Linkage will be acquired by a private investor consortium led by CITIC Capital Partners. Under the terms of the merger agreement AsiaInfo-Linkage shareholders will receive $12.00 in cash for each share of common stock they hold. The deal is valued at approximately 890 million and is subject to shareholder and regulatory approval. AsiaInfo-Linkage closed at $11.60 Monday, a loss of $0.08 on 12 times average volume.

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Shares of Chinese Internet company Sohu.com

rose sharply in early trading Monday on a report from

that it was selling search engine company, Sogou, to Qihoo 360 Technology

for $1.4 billion. Spokespersons for the companies were not available for comment. Sohu.com gained 4% Monday, closing at $63.20, while Qihoo 360 lost 4%, closing at $38.53.

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Shares of Barnes & Noble

sold off sharply Monday, on a report from

that "nothing imminent" was happening with regard to a Microsoft

purchase of the digital assets of Nook Media, according to a source. On May 9,

reported that Microsoft was preparing a $1 billion bid for the Nook assets. Spokespersons for Barnes & Noble and Microsoft declined comment on the rumor. Barnes & Noble closed at $21.10 Monday, a loss of 9.5% on 5.5 times average volume.

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Shares of Optimer Pharmaceuticals

surged higher just before the market close Monday on a report from

that AstraZeneca

and Cubist Pharmaceuticals

, were among companies that have submitted bids for Optimer Pharmaceuticals

, according to sources. Spokespersons for the companies were not immediately available for comment. Optimer Pharmaceuticals closed at $14.66 Monday, a gain of 14% on 4 times average volume.