Benzinga's M&A Chatter for Tuesday February 26, 2013

The following are the M&A deals, rumors and chatter circulating on Wall Street for Tuesday February 26, 2013:

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Assisted Living Concepts

announced Tuesday that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by TPG. Under the terms of the agreement, ALC stockholders will receive $12.00 in cash for each share of Class A common stock, while holders of ALC's Class B common stock will receive $12.90 in cash per share. The agreement was unanimously approved by ALC's Board of Directors and a Special Committee of the Board of Directors formed in connection with the exploration of strategic alternatives. Assisted Living Concepts closed at $11.91 Tuesday, a gain of 22.5% on 45 times average volume.

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Corvex and Related Companies sent a letter to the Board of Commonwealth REIT Tuesday, offering to acquire all the outstanding shares at a price of $25 per share, a 58% premium to Monday's closing price of $15.85 per share, "with the opportunity to meaningfully increase this offer after completing due diligence." Corvex and Related made the offer in an attempt to prevent Commonwealth from going ahead with its previously announced underwritten public offering of up to 31,050,000 common shares. The two companies, which collectively own a 9.8% stake in the REIT, believe Commonwealth could be worth as much as $50 per share in the next two years. Corvex and Related stated in their letter "If you do not publicly announce your intent to cancel the transaction by the end of business today, we are prepared to file litigation immediately seeking to enjoin the transaction or provide for its rescission in the event that it is completed." Commonwealth REIT closed at $24.40 Tuesday, a gain of 54% on 50 times average volume.

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Tribune Co

confirmed Tuesday the hiring of Evercore and JP Morgan as advisors to determine if there is credible interest in the company's newspapers from potential buyers. Tribune stated the hirings will "allow us to consider all of our options, and fulfill our fiduciary responsibility to our shareholders and employees." Tribune Co. closed at $53.50 Tuesday, a gain of $0.70 on almost twice average volume.

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Best Buy

founder Richard Schulze's plans to acquire the company appear to be in trouble, according to sources. Schulze is reprtedly having trouble securing financing and also finding minority investors as part of an alternate plan. Best Buy announced Tuesday it was delaying the release of its Q4 earnings by one day to March 1. The company had originally scheduled its earnings release for February 28, the deadline for Schulze to submit an offer. Best Buy closed at $16.46 Tuesday, and traded around $16 after-hours.