Benzinga's M&A Chatter for Thursday December 15, 2011

Hear are the M&A deals and chatter for Thursday December 15, 2011. Benzinga Pro reported them in real-time as they occurred: FujiFilm to Acquire SonoSite The Deal: FujiFilm (FUJIF) to acquire SonoSite SONO for $54 per share in cash. A favorite rumor of Little Bear Research, the SonoSite deal finally took place Thursday, albeit with a different partner. If you bought SONO Wednesday at the close of $42.24, you were paid a 28% premium for your efforts. SonoSite shares traded in a range of $53.51 to $53.73 Thursday on 61% greater than average volume, closing at $53.70, a gain of 27% for the day. Amaya to Acquire CryptoLogic The Deal: Amaya to acquire CryptoLogic CRYP for $2.50 per share in cash, a premium of 52% over the closing share price of $1.64 per share on December 14, 2011. The Board of CryptoLogic says that it has agreed in principle to the outline terms of a possible recommended all cash offer from Amaya for the acquisition of the entire issued and to be issued share capital of the company. Amaya is now required, by not later than 5.00 p.m. on January 12 2012, to confirm its intention to make an offer for CryptoLogic. CryptoLogic shares traded in a range of $1.58 to $1.73 Thursday on twice the average daily volume. However, trading was halted just before the announcement at 4:00pm. CryptoLogic resumed at 4:30pm and was trading after hours at $2.23. Solar Winds Acquires Privately-Held DameWare The Deal: SolarWinds SWI to acquire privately-held DameWare Development for $40 million in cash. DameWare sells software tools to companies that allow system administrators to remotely manage the computers on their networks. Private Equity Firm to Acquire WebMD The Rumor: Four private equity firms are competing to acquire WebMD WBMD, according to the NY Post. The rumored bidders include KKR and Providence Equity. This rumor started about two weeks ago, when WebMD was said to have hired Credit Suisse to explore options. Benzinga placed a call to WebMD today, but did not get a response. WebMD shares traded in a range of $37.00 to $38.24 Thursday on twice the average daily volume, closing at $37.75, a gain of 9.00% for the day. KKR to Acquire Eastman Kodak The Rumor: KKR KKR to acquire Eastman Kodak EK for $1.25 per share. Not sure why this deal would take place. An Eastman Kodak spokesperson would not comment on the rumor. A spokesperson for KKR said the company does not comment on deal speculation. Kodak shares traded in a range of $0.82 to $0.86 Thursday on 30% of the average daily volume, closing at $0.83, a gain of 1.00% for the day. Private Equity Firm to Acquire American Eagle Outfitters The Rumor: A private equity firm to acquire American Eagle Outfitters AEO for $17 per share. Benzinga contacted American Eagle but a spokesperson for the company was not able to comment on the rumor. American Eagle shares traded in a range of $14.56 to $14.83 Thursday on 31% greater than average volume, closing at $14.61, a loss of 0.27% for the day. Rio Tinto/BHP Billiton to Acquire Walter Energy The Rumor: Either Rio Tinto RIO or BHP Billiton BHP to acquire Walter Energy WLT for as much as $120 per share. This one surfaces about once per week and falls flat equally as often. Walter Energy shares traded in a range of $62.00 to $64.70 Thursday on almost twice the average daily volume, closing at $62.71, a gain of 0.63% for the day. Goldman Sachs Publishes Report on Biotech Outlook for 2012 Goldman Sachs released a report today on biotech entitled 'Looking ahead to 2012: What we think will matter'. Goldman sees M&A as a key area of focus among the larger pharmaceutical companies. Among the most likely candidates for buyouts in 2012 are Alexion Pharmaceuticals ALXN, Dendreon DNDN, Human Genome Sciences HGSI, Incyte INCY, InterMune ITMN, ONYX Pharmaceuticals ONXX, Momenta Pharmaceuticals MNTA, Seattle Genetics SGEN and Vertex Pharmaceuticals VRTX. Goldman sees the scarcity of growth assets as the driving force for these potential acquisitions.