These five stocks posted big gains on Monday, leading the market higher.
Motorola Mobility Holdings (MMI) rose 56% after it said that Google (GOOG) will acquire the company for $40 per share in cash. The companies announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Google will acquire Motorola Mobility for $40.00 per share in cash, or a total of about $12.5 billion, a premium of 63% to the closing price of Motorola Mobility shares on Friday, August 12, 2011. The transaction was unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies.
The acquisition of Motorola Mobility, a dedicated Android partner, will enable Google to supercharge the Android ecosystem and will enhance competition in mobile computing. Motorola Mobility will remain a licensee of Android and Android will remain open. Google will run Motorola Mobility as a separate business.
The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including the receipt of regulatory approvals in the US, the European Union and other jurisdictions, and the approval of Motorola Mobility’s stockholders. The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2011 or early 2012.
UTStarcom (UTSI) rose 19% after announced a share repurchase program and a share purchase program by senior executives. The company said that its board of directors has approved a stock repurchase program of up to $20 million of its outstanding stock over the next 12 months. In addition, UTStarcom's management team, which includes executive officers and senior executives of the company, will purchase up to $0.5 million of the UTStarcom's outstanding stock using personal funds over the next 12 months.
Impax Laboratories (IPXL) jumped 14% after it announced positive Phase III trial results. The company announced top-line results of the ASCEND-PD Phase III clinical study of IPX066 versus carbidopa-levodopa plus entacapone (CLE), in patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease (PD). IPX066 is an extended release capsule formulation of carbidopa-levodopa (CD-LD) under investigation for the treatment of the motor symptoms of PD.
The primary endpoint of this double blind crossover study was the percentage of “off time” during waking hours as measured by patient diary. “Off time” is the functional state when patients’ medication effect has worn off and there is a return of the motor symptoms of PD. Patients entered the study with a baseline “off time” of 36.1% (5.9 hours), and at the end of the randomized IPX066 treatment phase patients had “off time” of 24.0% (3.8 hours) during waking hours compared with 32.5% (5.2 hours) for CLE (p<0.0001). This represents a 33.5% decrease in percent “off time” for IPX066 from baseline vs. a 10% decrease for CLE. Impax plans to submit these data as part of its New Drug Application for IPX066 to the FDA, which is planned for the fourth quarter of 2011
Ascent Solar Technologies (ASTI) climbed 65% after it announced a major strategic agreement. The company and TFG Radiant announced they have signed a more than $275 million plus royalties long-term, multi-faceted, strategic partnership that includes (i) investments by TFG Radiant in Ascent and (ii) a joint development agreement between TFG Radiant and Ascent to establish manufacturing facilities to be located in East Asia. Under the agreement, TFG Radiant has committed $165 million for the initial East Asia FAB, bringing the total deal value to about $450 million plus royalties.
TFG Radiant has purchased 6,400,000 shares of Ascent stock at a price of $1.15 per share ($7.36m), which represents a premium of 56% relative to the closing price of Ascent stock on August 12, 2011. In addition, under certain conditions (including Ascent obtaining the approval of its shareholders together with TFG Radiant meeting certain performance requirements relating to the initial FAB construction) TFG Radiant will receive the right to purchase an additional 9,500,000 shares of Ascent stock, at a price of $1.55 per share ($14.7m).
China XD Plastics (CXDC) jumped 39% after announcing strong Q2 results and a $100 million investment by a private equity fund. Revenue for the second quarter was $88.2 million, representing a year/year increase of 42.2% from $62.0 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2010. The increase in revenue was primarily attributable to the increase in ASP and increase in sales volume, driven by rising demand for automotive modified plastics as a result of the continued growth of mid- and high-end branded automobile sales of the company's major customers.
Net income for the second quarter of fiscal 2011 was $14.4 million, compared with a net loss of $3.0 million for the same period a year ago, which was primarily related to the previously mentioned non-cash expense of approximately $13.4 million.
The company also announced that Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia has agreed to make a $100 million equity investment for a significant minority ownership stake in the Company, subject to certain customary closing conditions. This investment will enable China XD Plastics to accelerate its domestic capacity expansion and production line upgrade plans and invest in developing new products to better satisfy the demand for the Company's products in the market.
Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.
