Benzinga's M&A Chatter for Wednesday May 2, 2012

The following are the M&A deals, rumors and chatter circulating on Wall Street for Wednesday May 2, 2012:

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Microchip Technology Incorporated

, a leading provider of microcontroller, analog and Flash-IP solutions, and Standard Microsystems Corporation

announced Wednesday that Microchip has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Standard Microsystems Corporation for $37.00 per share in cash, which represents a total equity value of about $939 million, and a total enterprise value of about $766 million, after excluding SMSC's cash and investments on its balance sheet of approximately $173 million. The acquisition has been approved by the Boards of Directors of each company and is expected to close in the third quarter of calendar 2012, subject to approval by SMSC stockholders, regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. Standard Microsystems closed at $36.43 Wednesday, a gain of 38.83% on 117 times the average daily volume.

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Ascena Retail Group

and Charming Shoppes

jointly announced Wednesday that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Ascena will acquire Charming Shoppes in a cash transaction valued at approximately $890 million. Ascena has agreed to make a cash tender offer for all outstanding shares of Charming Shoppes common stock at a price of $7.35 per share. The tender offer is expected to commence within 10 business days. Subject to customary conditions and approvals, the transaction is expected to close during the second calendar quarter of 2012. Charming Shoppes closed at $7.31 Wednesday, a gain of 23.90% on 65 times the average daily volume.

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Extorre Gold Mines

, has been approached by potential buyers, according to sources and reported by

. The report stated that interest in Extorre increased upon the release of its Preliminary Economic Assessment #3 for the Cerro Moro gold-silver project in Santa Cruz province, Argentina. That report was released on April 2. A spokesperson for Extorre told Benzinga the company "wants to keep drilling and moving ahead with Cerro Moro project". He said the company "had not been approached by anyone" but being a public company they would respond if an offer was presented. Extorre Gold Mines closed at $3.97 Wednesday, a loss of 2.46% on 3 times the average daily volume .

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Research in Motion

is said to have held talks with Silver Lake Partners for a possible deal taking the company private in a report from

. Research in Motion has been the subject of frequent takeover chatter and was rumored on April 16 to have hired One Canadian bank and one global bank to weigh their strategic options, according to sources. A spokesperson for Research in Motion declined comment on the rumor. A spokesperson for Silver Lake was not available for comment. Research in Motion closed at $12.80 Wednesday, a loss of 5.04% on twice the average daily volume.