Benzinga's M&A Chatter for Tuesday July 8, 2014

The following are the M&A deals, rumors and chatter circulating on Wall Street for Tuesday July 8, 2014: Northstar Reportedly in Talks to Acquire Griffin-American for Approximately $4B The Rumor:
Shares of Northstar Realty Finance NRF and recent spinoff, NorthStar Asset Management NSAM, surged higher Tuesday, following a tweet and report from FT's Ed Hammond, that Northstar was in talks to buy Griffin-American Healthcare REIT II for around $4 billion, according to sources. The reports says the exclusivity period ends on Friday. Spokespersons for the two companies were not available for comment. Northstar Realty Finance shares closed off the highs Tuesday at $16.53, a loss of 1%, while NorthStar Asset Management rose 3% to close at $19.46. Hearing Lowe's Could Bid $100/Share for Lumber Liquidators The Rumor:
Shares of Lumber Liquidators LL spiked higher Tuesday, on unconfirmed market chatter of a potential bid from Lowe's LOW. Lumber Liquidators shares have been in a downward trend since being named as a short position by Whitney Tilson in November 2013. When asked by Benzinga for a comment on the rumor, Tilson replied simply "Ha!". Spokespersons for Lumber Liquidators and Lowe's declined comment on the rumor. Lumber Liquidators shares closed Tuesday at $76.59, a gain of more than 3%. Repsol Rumored to Bid for Sandridge The Rumor:
Shares of SandRidge Energy SD spiked higher Tuesday, following a report from Deal Reporter, quoting La Republica that Repsol REPPY may have an interest in acquiring SandRidge. Spokespersons for Sandridge and Reposol were not available for comment. SandRidge Energy shares rose 2% Tuesday, to close at $6.97. AbbVie Raises Offer for Shire to £51.15/Share, in Cash and Stock The Revised Offer:
AbbVie ABBV announced Tuesday, its revised proposal of £22.44 in cash and 0.8568 ordinary shares of New AbbVie to acquire Shire SHPG. The new offer represents an increase of approximately 11% over the previous offer of £46.26 per share, rejected by Shire on June 25. Shire acknowledged the offer from Abbvie and said that AbbVie did not make the revised proposal to Shire before the announcement. Shire's Board will meet to consider the proposal and said a further announcement will be made in due course. Shire closed Tuesday at $232.92, a loss of almost 2%.