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Strategies & Market Trends : Speculating in Takeover Targets -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: richardred who wrote (3215)	11/13/2012 10:08:05 AM
From: richardred	Respond to of 7239

Jefferies Agrees To Buyout By Shareholder Leucadia By Kevin Harlin, Investor's Business Daily Posted 11/12/2012 03:35 PM ET Jefferies Group (JEF) agreed to a buyout from its largest investor, the diversified operations firm Leucadia National (LUK), in a deal that values the investment bank at $3.6 billion. Leucadia, which currently owns approximately 28.6% of Jefferies shares, will pay out 0.81 of its shares for each Jefferies share. The deal, expected to close in Q1, still requires shareholder approval. The deal helps shore up Jefferies' balance sheet, and helps it diversify into a full-service investment bank and away from its niche role in underwriting junk bonds. Jefferies' credit rating was cut in October to one notch above junk status by Moody's Investors Service, in part because of risks seen with its aggressive growth strategy. "This merger will allow us to operate from a position of even greater strength, take advantage of opportunities that arise in and around the business of Jefferies, and continue Leucadia's longstanding practice of smart value acquisitions and investments," Jefferies executive committee Chairman Brian Friedman said in a statement. Jefferies share popped early and were up 13% intraday to 16.09. Leucadia shares were down 4% to 20.94. Jefferies CEO Richard Handler will keep that role in the combined company. Leucadia chairman and CEO Ian Cumming will retire. Investment banks and large money centers have been posting mostly better-than-expected results this quarter, despite a difficult global investment banking environment. Read More At IBD: news.investors.com

To: richardred who wrote (3215)	11/13/2012 10:08:49 AM
From: richardred	Respond to of 7239

Sherwin-Williams to Acquire Mexican Paint Maker for $2.4 Billion By DEALBOOK dealbook.nytimes.com

To: richardred who wrote (3215)	11/13/2012 10:11:51 AM
From: richardred	Respond to of 7239

Priceline acquisition of Kayak worth $1.8B bizjournals.com

To: richardred who wrote (3215)	11/16/2012 11:27:24 AM
From: richardred	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 7239

First notable possible bidding wars. IMO this show some pent up demand for takeovers that will be forthcoming.. Schiff Nutrition receives 2nd takeover offerSchiff Nutrition gets 2nd takeover offer from Reckitt Benckiser; follows Bayer bid in October Innospec ups TPC Group buyout offer A British consumer goods company has made a competing bid for Schiff Nutrition International Inc. a couple weeks after Bayer AG said it will buy the U.S. vitamin and nutritional supplement maker. Shares of Salt Lake City, Utah-based Schiff shot up more than 28 percent, or $9.58, to $43.50 in Friday morning trading after Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC revealed its offer. Slough, England-based Reckitt Benckiser said it is starting a tender offer to buy Schiff for $1.4 billion, or $42 per share, in cash. That per-share price represents a premium of more than 23 percent over an offer Bayer made Oct. 30. The German drugmaker said then that it would buy Schiff for $1.2 billion, or $34 per share, in another cash deal. A Bayer spokesman declined to comment Friday on the competing offer. Schiff shares closed at $23.19 on Oct. 26, the last trading day before Bayer made its offer. Schiff products include Tiger's Milk nutrition bars, Omega 3 supplement MegaRed, and Airborne immune system health supplements. Its portfolio includes brands in three of the largest health supplement segments — joint care, cardiovascular health and immune support. For its fiscal 2012, which ended May 31, Schiff posted revenue of $258.9 million, and net income of $13.7 million, or 47 cents per share. That was up from sales of $213.6 million, and earnings of $12.6 million, or 43 cents per share, for its prior fiscal year. Reckitt Benckiser said it was confident Schiff's board of directors will chose its "superior proposal," and it believes it can get a deal done before the end of the year. finance.yahoo.com ___________________________________________________________________________________ Innospec Inc. (Nasdaq: IOSP) increased its buyout offer for TPC Group Inc. (Nasdaq: TPCG) to $47.50 per share, which has resulted in new highs for TPC’s stock. Colorado-based Innospec, a specialty chemicals company, is competing with private equity firms First Reserve Corp. and SK Capital Partners to have the best buyout offer for Houston-based TPC, another specialty chemicals company and the world’s largest producer of butadiene, which is used in synthetic rubber. Last week, after TPC said it agreed to a revised $45-per-share offer from First Reserve and SK Capital, multiple large TPC shareholders spoke out against the agreement, saying it was still priced too low. In early October, Innospec proposed to buy TPC for $44 to $46 per share. Now, with Innospec’s new offer of $47.50 per share, which is expected to be backed by financing from Blackstone Capital Partners, TPC has authorized Innospec to resume its due diligence review of the company. TPC said in a Thursday statement that its board of directors still recommends that its stockholders vote in favor of approving its merger agreement with First Reserve and SK Capital for $45 per share. However, TPC also said that Innospec’s new offer is expected to lead to a better formal proposal when it completes its due diligence. “We were disappointed to have been denied sufficient access to complete our due diligence, and we fully expect this revised offer to allow this to happen," Patrick Williams, Innospec’s CEO and president, said in a statement. "Our diligence so far has confirmed our initial findings that TPC is a good strategic fit with Innospec." On news of the new offer, TPC’s stock jumped to $47.85 per share Thursday morning, an increase of more than 4 percent and a new 52-week high. Some TPC analysts have estimated that the bidding war for TPC will continue to increase, and the company will eventually sell for $50 per share. bizjournals.com _____________________________________________________________________________________________

To: richardred who wrote (3215)	11/27/2012 9:22:09 AM
From: richardred	Respond to of 7239

Ralcorp Holdings Inc which is on the SITT iconic brands list is going on the Acquired list today. ConAgra comes back to get her. The market likes the deal, as CAG is up premarket.. ConAgra to buy Ralcorp for $5 bln, to be No.1 in store-brand foods Tue Nov 27, 2012 8:50am EST (Adds details, background) <span class="articleLocation">Nov 27 (Reuters) - Long-time suitor ConAgra Foods Inc finally sealed a deal to buy Ralcorp Holdings Inc for $5 billion to become the biggest private label food company in North America. Ralcorp shareholders will receive $90 per share in cash, a premium of 28.2 percent to the stock's Monday close, ConAgra said in a statement. ConAgra, the maker of Chef Boyardee pastas and Slim Jim meat snacks, began its pursuit of Ralcorp in March 2011 with an offer of $84 per share. The company raised its bid twice but Ralcorp spurned them, including the then-final offer of $94 per share, which valued Ralcorp at $5.2 billion. Ralcorp chose instead to spin off its cereals business into Post Holdings Inc earlier this year. With Tuesday's deal, the combined market value of Ralcorp and Post is about $6.12 billion, showing that Ralcorp was able to extract a much higher price than last year's bids. Davenport & Co analyst Ann Gurkin said ConAgra did not overpay since the deal would result in a very lucrative private label business. "Ralcorp with ConAgra's private label portfolio will make a very strong combination," Gurkin told Reuters, adding her main concern about the deal was successful and timely integration. ConAgra said the acquisition will create the largest private label packaged food business in North America, with about $4.5 billion in combined annual sales of store-branded products. ConAgra's shares were up 6 percent at $29.93 before the bell on Tuesday, after closing at $28.29 on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday. Ralcorp shares were trading at $88.50. They closed at $70.23 on Monday. The deal is a big win for activist investor Corvex Management, Ralcorp's largest shareholder, which in August demanded that the food manufacturer either sell itself, buy another company or change its strategy after a series of earnings disappointments. Ralcorp reported on Tuesday a fourth-quarter net loss of $44.2 million, or 80 cents per share, on revenue of $1.07 billion. The deal is valued at $6.8 billion including debt, ConAgra said. The deal, which was approved by the boards of both companies, will add to earnings in the first year, ConAgra said. Centerview Partners and BofA Merrill Lynch are financial advisers to ConAgra, while Barclays and Goldman Sachs & Co are advising Ralcorp. (Reporting by Siddharth Cavale in Bangalore and Dhanya Skariachan in New York; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila) reuters.com