Benzinga's M&A Chatter for Tuesday January 8, 2013

The following are the M&A deals, rumors and chatter circulating on Wall Street for Tuesday January 8, 2013: Vivus CEO Reportedly Says Acquisition is 'Inevitable' CEO Comments:
Vivus VVUS CEO Leland Wilson, talking to Deal Reporter at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, said partnership talks have been ongoing and a deal could be reached by year end. Wilson reportedly said a takeover is "inevitable", and said it's a matter "of when and at what price." Vivus shares traded as high as $15.12 on the report, but closed down 3% at $14.43 on twice average volume. Hearing Renewed Chatter of Icahn Stake in Research in Motion The Rumor:
Shares of Research in Motion RIMM surged higher in early trading on Tuesday, on unconfirmed chatter that investor Carl Icahn was going to take a significant stake in the Blackberry maker. On November 13, 2012, another unconfirmed report had Icahn leading a group of investors to buy RIMM for $13 per share. A spokesperson for Research in Motion declined comment on the rumor. Research in Motion closed at $11.91 Tuesday, a loss of $0.04 on average volume. Hearing Unconfirmed Chatter Google Could Bid for Virnetx Holding The Rumor:
Hearing unconfirmed market chatter that Google GOOG could bid $50 per share to acquire Virnetx Holding VHC in order to obstruct Apple's AAPL court case and/or settlement talks. A spokesperson for Google declined comment on the rumor. A Virnetx spokesperson was not available for comment. Virnetx Holding closed at $33.49 Tuesday, a gain of 1.5% for the day on average volume. Hearing Illumina Withdraws Bid for Complete Genomics The Offer:
Illumina ILMN reportedly has withdrawn its bid to acquire Complete Genomics GNOM, according to sources. Illumina had bid $3.30 to acquire Complete Genomics. That offer was rejected by GNOM's Board of Directors in November 2012. On Monday, BGI-Shenzhen subsidiary Beta Acquisition Corporation, extended its all-cash tender offer to acquire Complete Genomics for $3.15 per share, till January 11, 2013. Complete Genomics closed at $3.15 Tuesday, a loss of 1.5% for the day on 8.5 times average volume. Detwiler Note Says True Religion Deal Less Likely Now The Analyst Note:
A note from Detwiler Tuesday said not to expect an acquisition of True Religion TRLG to be announced in the short-term. It cited poor holiday sales as a reason to doubt a deal could be done at all. True Religion began a strategic review process on October 10, 2012. Deal Reporter reported on December 3 that private equity firms were losing interest. True Religion Apparel closed at $24.54 Tuesday, a loss of 3.5% on higher than average volume. Dish Offers $3.30/Share for Clearwire The Offer:
DISH Network DISH confirmed Tuesday that it has formally approached Clearwire Corporation CLWR with respect to a potential strategic transaction on terms as generally outlined in the Clearwire release, including an offer to purchase all of the Clearwire common shares at $3.30. Clearwire confirmed that it has received the unsolicited, non-binding proposal from DISH Network. Sprint S announced on December 17, 2012 that it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the approximately 50 percent stake in Clearwire it does not currently own for $2.97 per share. Clearwire closed at $2.92 Tuesday, but traded at $3.15 after the Dish offer was announced.