Coca-Cola Enterprises May Be In Play For An Acquisition

Coca-Cola Enterprises CCE may be added to the long list of companies that are acquired in 2014.

As unfortunate as it is, M&A activity is often leaked to a few individuals before the deal is officially announced. This may be the case for Coca-Cola Enterprises.

21,500 $55 January calls traded at 3:59 PM ET Wednesday versus open interest of 58 while the stock was trading below $46. This was not the only unusual trade. Around noon over 3,000 July $47 calls traded with no open interest. A 1.8 million share block trade hit the tape shortly after noon.

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It is notable that the $55 calls are for January, which is far out. This indicates the purchaser may be making a long term statement on the the stock, rather than purchasing for a quick acquisition. Coca-Cola enterprises did reaffirm guidance and said the company expects to buy back $800 million of stock this year.

One of the obvious potential suitors is Coca-Cola KO, which in 2010 purchased the North American business of Coca-Cola Enterprises This deal generated cost savings of approximately $350 million.

Benzinga contacted Coca-Cola Enterprises, but the company declined to comment on trading activity.

Shares of Coca-Cola enterprises are up 1.74 percent Thursday to $46.74.