MARKET CURRENTS
real-time news and commentary for investors
MARKET CURRENTS
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Today - Wednesday, May 22, 2013
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8:23 AM More on the Multiband (MBND) acquisition at $3.25/share: Congrats to SA Pro's Inefficient Market who - less than 24 hours ago and at a price of about $2.30 - told readers he was buying the stock "hand over fist." "In my opinion, Multiband's MDU unit alone is worth more than the entire company's current enterprise value of $82M." Comment!
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8:15 AM Goodman Networks plans to acquire Multiband (MBND) for $3.25 per share in a deal valued at $116M. Multiband's board of directors say they evaluated several options for the company before agreeing to the offer. Under the terms of the arrangement, Multiband can keep soliciting bids from other parties for 45 days. Comment!
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Tuesday, May 21, 2013
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6:38 PM SolarWinds (SWI) attempts to move downmarket and obtain a stronger cloud presence by striking a deal to acquire private N-able for $120M in cash. Whereas SolarWinds' IT management offerings are more focused on enterprises (it has been gaining share here against the likes of CA, BMC, H-P, and IBM), N-able sells cloud-based IT management software to service providers, who in turn use them to offer IT management services to SMBs. (PR) Comment!
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6:27 PM France Telecom (FTE) will invest up to €50M ($64M) in video site Dailymotion and once more begin looking for a partner this fall, says Orange CEO Stephane Richard. With the French government (27% stake) having scuttled the Yahoo deal, FTE has reportedly been fielding Dailymotion bids from local tech/media players. 1 Comment
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4:13 PM Saks (SKS +11.1%) has hired Goldman to explore strategic alternatives, "including a possible sale of the company," the NY Post reports. P-E firms, including KKR and Leonard Green, are seen as likely bidders. Shares +15.8% AH, adding to today's big post-earnings gains. 2 Comments
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3:52 PM Clearwire (CLWR +4%) reschedules its special shareholder meeting to May 31, so as to give investors time to weigh Sprint's (S) new $3.40/share offer. Crest Financial says it still isn't satisfied, arguing Clearwire's spectrum deserves a higher price tag. Shares are currently at $3.39, a penny below the offer price. 3 Comments
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12:11 PM Bernstein analyst Aaron Gal says Mylan (MYL -0.4%) could still bid $22/share for Warner Chilcott (WCRX +2.2%) as the latter's "willingness" to accept an all-share deal from Actavis (ACT +0.6%) might bring others to the table. Comment!
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11:18 AM Food delivery websites Seamless and Grubhub will merge to create a company that could take the niche industry to the next level. Though online food ordering sites are a hodge-podge of various options, the Seamless-Grubhub combination could lead to an expansive national rollout and a dominant industry position in the space. Should Yelp (YELP +1.4%) or Open Table (OPEN +2.7%) be worried about the threat of expanded services from the new company? Comment!
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9:09 AM Sprint (S) raises its offer for Clearwire (CLWR) to $3.40/share ahead of today's shareholder vote on a $2.97/share offer, which was widely expected to be shot down. The revised offer, which trumps Dish's (DISH) $3.30/share bid and has been sent to Clearwire's board for review, is said to have the support of Comcast, Intel, and Bright House, who collectively own 26% of Clearwire shares not held by Sprint. Nonetheless, Clearwire +6.1% to $3.46, above the offer price. Sprint +1.1%. (previous) 6 Comments
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9:02 AM Shares of Clearwire (CLWR) are halted with news pending. Sources are saying a higher offer from Sprint (S) is in the works. 1 Comment
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7:14 AM InterContinentalExchange (ICE) formally applies for EU regulatory approval for its NYSE Euronext (NYX) purchase. It was 15 months ago Deutsche Boerse's buy of NYX was denied, but ICE feels it won a victory last month when the EU said it would rule on the purchase, as opposed to each of the state regulators having a say. Comment!
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6:47 AM Dish Network (DISH) can talk to Sprint (S) and look at its books after Softbank (SFTBF.PK) agreed to a waiver. Softbank thinks its offer to buy the company is superior and sees the move as a step forward toward closing a deal to acquire Sprint before July 1. Comment!
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Monday, May 20, 2013
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6:55 PM Rockwood Holdings' (ROC) pigments businesses have attracted offers from buyout firms including Blackstone (BX) and Advent International, Reuters reports. ROC is packaging its Sachtleben titanium dioxide unit with its color additives units and is hoping to sell or spin off the businesses by the end of the year for as much as $2B. 1 Comment
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4:28 PM Marketing and customer service software/services firm SoundBite (SDBT +4.2%) is getting acquired for $5/share by private Genesys (now a unit of P-E firm Permira). The price represents a 67% premium to SoundBite's close today. Shares +52% AH to $4.55. (PR) Comment!
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4:11 PM Dish (DISH -0.7%) has made a $2B bid for bankrupt Lightsquared's spectrum even though the FCC hasn't yet approved its use due to GPS interference concerns, Bloomberg reports. The report comes with Sprint (S) and Clearwire (CLWR) continuing to play hard-to-get in the wake of Dish's offers for the companies, and a day before Clearwire shareholders vote on a Sprint offer many think will get shot down, at least if it isn't raised from a current $2.97/share. Comment!
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1:42 PM Elan's (ELN +3.3%) board responds in boilerplate fashion to Royalty Pharma's sweetened offer to acquire the company, saying it will, as before, in line with its obligations under Irish Takeover law, assess the bid and advise its shareholders accordingly. In the meantime, ELN shareholders are strongly advised to take no action. Comment!
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1:37 PM More on Royalty Pharma/ Elan (ELN +3.3%): Royalty says ELN "dramatically overpaid" for its 21% participation interest in future royalty payments from Theravance's (THRX -5.9%) respiratory collaborations with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK +0.2%). The deal was made in a "hasty" fashion Royalty claims, and says the same might well be said of ELN's purchases of AOP Oprhan Pharmaceuticals and a 48% stake in NewBridge Pharmaceuticals (for a combined cost of $380M). The new offer ($12.50/share) is contingent upon shareholders voting against the THRX deal. Comment!
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12:15 PM Facebook (FB -2.1%) slides after Yahoo (YHOO +1.3%) confirms it's buying social blogging leader Tumblr, which (like Twitter) is arguably a threat to Facebook's engagement levels. In spite of its focus on personal networks, Facebook has been trying to encroach on Tumblr's turf via its support for "public" posts that can be followed by anyone. However, uptake has largely been driven by media figures, rather than regular users. In paying $1.1B for Tumblr, Yahoo is betting the platform's social features and network effects will let it become the Twitter of longer-form material. If this happens, and Tumblr isn't simply viewed as another blogging platform, the price tag could look cheap. (previous) Comment!
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10:07 AM Paulson & Co., whose funds own ~9.9% of the outstanding shares (12.8M) of Plains Exploration (PXP +7%), says it will vote in favor of Freeport McMoRan's (FCX -0.9%) proposed takeover of PXP and McMoRan Exploration (MMR) as it "adds another avenue for growth, diversifies its cash flows, and increases the proportion of earnings from the United States." Comment!
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