Merger Monday: Level 3, SanDisk, Medtronic

Mukesh Buch
16 Jun, 2014
New York City

Level 3 plans to acquire TW Telecom for $5.64 billion. Medtronic agreed to a deal to acquire Covidien for $42.9 billion. SanDisk plans to buy Fusion-IO worth $1.1 billion. Williams Companies acquired Access Midstream for $5.99 billion. Yahoo plunged after Alibaba result.

[R]12:10 PM New York – Level 3 plans to acquire TW Telecom for $5.64 billion. Medtronic agreed to a deal to acquire Covidien for $42.9 billion.SanDisk plans to buy Fusion-IO worth $1.1 billion. Williams Companies acquired Access Midstream for $5.99 billion. Yahoo plunged after Alibaba result.[/R]

Bluebird Bio Inc surged 33.9% or $8.86 to $34.95 after the biotech company reported positive clinical trials on preliminary data of experimental gene therapy for patients with inherited blood disorders.

Level 3 Communications, Inc ((LVLT)) declined 5.4% or $2.34 to $41.75 after the communications service provider plans to acquire business network provider TW Telecom for $40.86 per share or $5.64 billion in a cash and stock.

Shareholders of TW Telecom will receive $10 in cash and 0.7 of a Level 3 share for each share held.

Medtronic, Inc ((MDT)) slipped 32 cents to $60.38 after the medical devices maker intends to acquire Ireland-based rival Covidien Plc in a $42.9 billion and shift its executive headquarters to Ireland to reduce federal corporate taxes.

Medtronic will pay $35.19 in cash and 0.956 of an ordinary share to shareholders of Covidien, represents a premium of 29%.

Motorcar Parts of America, Inc ((MPAA)) soared 6.3% or $1.50 to $25.33 after the auto, truck and motorcycle parts maker said net sales in the fourth-quarter ending in March jumped 32.1% to $76.7 million.

Net in the quarter swung to profit $3.1 million or 19 cents a diluted share compared to a loss of $73.7 million or $5.08.

SanDisk Corporation ((SNDK)) jumped 2.5% or $2.48 to $100.97 after the data storage solutions provider plans to buy Fusion-IO, Inc. in a cash deal worth about $1.1 billion. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter.

Shares of Fusion-IO, Inc climbed 23.1% to $11.43.

Williams Companies, Inc ((WMB)) surged 24.5% or $11.55 to $58.72 after the energy infrastructure service provider agreed to acquire Access Midstream Partners LP from Global Infrastructure Partners II for $5.99 billion in cash.

Yahoo! Inc ((YHOO)) plunged 5.1% or $1.91 to $35.03 after the China-based online marketplace operator Alibaba reported lower than expected revenue growth and quarterly operating margin dropped to 45.3% from 51.3% in the year ago quarter, according to a F-1 filings with the SEC.

Yahoo owns 24% stake of Alibaba.

Alibaba, the largest online wholesale marketplace in China, said revenues in the fiscal 2013 rose 72.4% from the previous year to $5.55 billion. The gross merchandise volume in China increased to $248 billion in the fiscal year and number of orders rose to 11.3 billion. The company said it has 231 million active users.

The marketplace operator also added higher marketing costs to attract more smartphone users lowered its operating margins.