Benzinga's M&A Chatter for Friday June 22, 2012

The following are the M&A deals, rumors and chatter circulating on Wall Street for Friday June 22, 2012:

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Best Buy

is rumored to have hired Goldman Sachs as an adviser to explore strategic options, according to sources. Those options could include a sale of the company. Earlier this month, it was rumored that former Chairman Richard Schulze was considering take Best Buy private. The company held its annual shareholder meeting on Thursday. A spokesperson for Best Buy would not comment on the rumor. Best Buy closed at $19.19 Friday, a loss of 1.49% on lower than average volume.

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Red Robin Gourmet Burgers

was the subject of vague takeover chatter on Friday. No specific buyer was mentioned by name. On Thursday, Red Robin CEO Stephen Carley said the company is exploring opening its first Manhattan location. Red Robin Gourmet Burgers closed at $29.95 Friday, a loss of 0.07% on twice the average daily volume.

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eResearchTechnology

announced Friday that at a special meeting of stockholders, its stockholders approved, among other things, the proposal to adopt the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of April 9, 2012, pursuant to which ERT will be acquired by affiliates of Genstar Capital LLC, a leading middle market private equity firm for $8.00 per share in cash. eResearchTechnology closed at $7.97 Friday, a loss of 0.06% on 1.5 times the average daily volume.