Benzinga's M&A Chatter for Tuesday December 20, 2011

Here are the M&A deals and chatter for Tuesday December 20, 2011. Benzinga Pro reported them in real-time as they occurred: Infosys to Acquire Portland Group The Deal: Infosys INFY to acquire acquire all of the outstanding share capital in Australia's Portland Group for $A37 million in cash. Portland Group's expertise in strategic sourcing and category management services is expected to complement Infosys BPO's global Sourcing & Procurement capabilities to create a market offering that will positively impact client's business efficiency and effectiveness. The acquisition is expected to be completed by early January 2012, subject to certain closing conditions being met. Shares of Infosys traded in a range of $50.03 to $51.81 Tuesday on slightly more than the average daily volume and closed at $51.47, a gain of 4% for the day. Nuance to Acquire Vlingo The Deal: Nuance Communications NUAN announced it has signed an agreement to acquire Vlingo. Fueled by unprecedented demand for intelligent voice interfaces that combine voice, language understanding and semantic processing, Nuance and Vlingo will combine their deep innovation and R&D expertise to deliver next-generation natural language interfaces across numerous markets and industries. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Shares of Nuance Communications traded in a range of $24.73 to $25.64 Tuesday on 12% more than the average daily volume and closed at $25.63, a gain of 7% for the day. URS Acquires CATI Training Systems The Deal: URS Corporation URS announced today that it has acquired the assets of CATI Training Systems, a leading designer and developer of virtual visual environments for flight simulators and a variety of other training systems for the Department of Defense and commercial customers. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. CATI, which is owned by a private group of investors, has a staff of approximately 12 highly specialized engineers and software developers. Headquartered in Daleville, Alabama, CATI specializes in delivering advanced visual image generation systems and high fidelity visual simulation terrain databases for the simulators used to train civil, commercial and military pilots. Shares of URS traded in a range of $34.63 to $35.89 Tuesday on 71% of the average daily volume and closed at $35.46, a gain of 4.79% for the day. Leggett & Platt to Acquire Western Pneumatic Tube The Deal: Leggett & Platt LEG Tuesday announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire Western Pneumatic Tube Holding. The transaction is structured as a cash purchase at an enterprise value of $188 million, is subject to customary closing conditions including regulatory clearance, and is expected to close by January 31, 2012. The operations will constitute a new, stand-alone business unit within Leggett & Platt's Industrial Materials segment. The acquisition is expected to be slightly accretive to Leggett & Platt's EPS in the first year. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Shares of Leggett & Platt traded in a range of $22.22 to $22.82 Tuesday on 79% of the average daily volume and closed at $22.64, a gain of 3.5% for the day. Global Education Announces Shareholder Approval of Merger With Pearson Plc The Deal: Global Education & Technology Group GEDU announced Tuesday that shareholders voted overwhelmingly in favor of the previously announced merger with Pearson and Genius Merger Sub, pursuant to the Agreement and Plan of Merger dated November 19, 2011 by and among the Company, Pearson and Merger Sub. Approximately 90% of the Company's total outstanding ordinary shares voted in person or by proxy at Monday's extraordinary general meeting to approve the merger and approve and adopt the Merger Agreement. Shares of Global Education & Technology Group traded in a range of $10.04 to $10.83 Tuesday on more than 3 times the average daily volume and closed at $10.70, a gain of 10% for the day. Talbot's Rejects Sycamore Partners Offer The Response: Talbots TLB Tuesday responded to the unsolicited proposal received on December 6, 2011 from Sycamore Partners to acquire all of Talbots outstanding shares of common stock at a price of $3.00 per share. In its response, the Company informed Sycamore Partners that it had considered and evaluated the terms of the proposed transaction and had concluded that the proposal was inadequate and substantially undervalues the Company. The Board of Directors of the Company has resolved to explore a full range of strategic alternatives to maximize value for Talbots stockholders. Pending that evaluation, the Company will continue to pursue its long range plan and continue its previously announced search for a successor President and Chief Executive Officer. Shares of Talbot's traded in a range of $2.67 to $2.78 Tuesday on 55% of the average daily volume and closed at $2.69, a gain of 1.89% for the day. Apple to Acquire Anobit The Rumor: Apple AAPL has agreed to terms to acquire Israeli flash storage manufacturer Anobit for as much as $500 million. This deal first surfaced a week ago. The Calcalist reported Tuesday this is a done deal. Benzinga was unable to confirm it. Apple shares traded in a range of $387.26 to $396.10 on two-thirds the average daily volume and closed at $395.95, a gain of 3.5% for the day. Verizon, Others to Acquire Netflix The Rumor: Verizon VZ and several other companies reportedly are lined up to make bids for Netflix NFLX. Sources report Goldman Sachs has been hired to handle the bidding process with an asking price of $105 per share. Netflix has been mentioned as a takeover target almost every day in one form or another, since their disastrous earnings report on October 24. Netflix shares traded in a range of $68.22 to $71.59 Tuesday on less than half the average daily volume and closed at $71.40, a gain of 6.33% for the day. AT&T to Acquire Dish Network The Rumor: AT&T T to acquire Dish Network DISH as a replacement for T-Mobile, according to both Barclays and Stifel Nicolaus. Dish Network owns a portion of the broadcast spectrum that could be used by AT&T. Shares of Dish Network traded in a range of $26.60 to $27.60 Tuesday on 1.5 times the average daily volume and closed at $27.46, a gain of 9% for the day. Novartis to Take a 20% Stake in Dendreon The Rumor: Novartis NVS to enter into a marketing agreement with Dendreon DNDN for Provenge and to take a 20% stake in the once high flying biotech firm. A spokesperson for Novartis was not aware of the chatter. Dendreon did not respond to an inquiry from Benzinga. Shares of Dendreon traded in a range of $7.33 to $7.79 Tuesday on 83% of the average daily volume and closed at $7.74, a gain of 6% for the day. Fosun to Acquire Focus Media The Rumor: Shanghai-based Fosun to acquire Focus Media FMCN. Only vague chatter. Shares of Focus Media traded in a range of $18.90 to $19.94 Tuesday on 40% of the average daily volume and closed at $19.39, a gain of 1.4% for the day. Un-named Buyer to Acquire Aeropostale The Rumor: Vague chatter of possible buyer interest in Aeropostale ARO. Aerpostale spokesperson was not able to comment on earlier takeover chatter. Company is currently in a 'quiet period'. Shares of Aeropostale traded in a range of $14.90 to $15.40 Tuesday on slightly more than the average daily volume and closed at $15.36, a gain of 4% for the day. Un-named Buyer to Acquire Stillwater Mining The Rumor: Vague chatter of possible buyer interest in Stillwater Mining SWC. Shares of Stillwater Mining traded in a range of $10.67 to $11.02 Tuesday on 75% of the average daily volume and closed at $10.81, a gain of 3% for the day.