The following are the M&A deals, rumors and chatter circulating on Wall Street for Friday March 10 through Sunday March 12,
2017:
Gilead Said to be Near Bid for Incyte
The Rumor:
Incyte Corporation (NASDAQ: INCY) shares
spike sharply higher Friday on a report from Street Insider that Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) is close to making an offer for the biotech company. That report
followed a comment from Barclays analyst Geoffrey Meacham that Gilead consider companies with pipelines like those of Incyte, and
also Tesaro (NASDAQ: TSRO) and
Clovis Oncology (NASDAQ: CLVS).
Later in the day, Incyte filed a prospectus for 34 million shares owned by Baker Bros.
Incyte closed at $149.24, up $11.22 and traded at $152.10 after-hours.
Hearing Takeover Chatter in Palo Alto Shares Spike Higher to Session Highs as Traders Circulating Unconfirmed Takeover
Chatter
The Rumor:
Shares of Palo Alto Networks Inc (NASDAQ: PANW) spiked to a high of $119.40 on Friday on unconfirmed market chatter of a
potential offer from IBM (NYSE: IBM).
Palo Alto is a frequent takeover name, with Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) also mentioned as a potential acquirer.
Palo Alto closed at $118.83, up $3.83.
ExxonMobil Gauges Interest of BP's Major Shareholders for Potential Takeover
The Rumor:
Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) has contacted BP’s (NYSE: BP) major shareholders, which include BlackRock and Vanguard, regarding interest in a
potential acquisition, according to the Evening Standard. Sources say a deal could be consummated at approximately £120 billion
($146 billion), which would make it the largest M&A deal of all time. At Friday's close, BP had a market cap of $113.42
billion.
Chevron (NYSE: CVX) is also considered to
be a potential buyer. Exxon and BP declined comment on the rumor.
BP closed at $34.33, up $0.83.
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