Wall Street's M&A Chatter From February 21

The following are the M&A deals, rumors and chatter circulating on Wall Street for Tuesday February 21, 2017:

Restaurant Brands to Acquire Popeye's Louisiana Kitchen for $79/Share in Cash

The Deal:

Restaurant Brands International Inc. QSR and Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Inc. PLKI announced an agreement for RBI to acquire Popeyes for $79.00 per share in cash, or $1.8 billion. The transaction is expected to close by April 2017.

Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen closed at $78.73, up 19.07 percent.

Hearing M&A Chatter in Legg Mason

The Rumor:

Legg Mason Inc LM shares spiked to a high of $38.99 on a report from Street Insider that the company received a takeover offer from an unnamed buyer. No details are known aout the potential offer.

Legg Mason closed at $37.50 on Tuesday, up 2.18 percent.

B. Riley Financial to Acquire FBR & Co. for $20.28/Share in Cash, Stock

The Deal:

B. Riley Financial, Inc. RILY announced an agreement to acquire FBR & Co. FBRC in a transaction valued at $160.1 million. FBR shareholders will receive .671 shares of B. Riley common stock, plus a pre-closing cash dividend of $8.50 per share, assuming sufficient funds are available for distribution. FBR is required to deliver a minimum of $33.5 million of cash (net of certain transactional and other expenses) to B. Riley Financial at closing. Based upon B. Riley Financial's closing stock price on Friday, the stock and anticipated pre-closing dividend amounts to $20.28 per FBR share.

The transaction has been approved by B. Riley Financial's and FBR's boards of directors and must be approved by shareholders of both companies, in addition to regulatory approval. The transaction is expected to close Q2 of 2017.

FBR rose 10.78 percent to close at $18.50.

Verizon to Pay $350M Less for Yahoo's Operating Business

The Reduction:

Verizon Communications Inc VZ and Yahoo! Inc. YHOO announced they have amended the existing terms of their agreement for the purchase of Yahoo's operating business. The companies have agreed to reduce the price Verizon will pay to acquire Yahoo's operating business by $350 million. Verizon and Yahoo will also share certain legal and regulatory liabilities arising from certain data breaches incurred by Yahoo.

Yahoo closed at $45.50 on Tuesday, up $0.40.

Icahn Sees Bristol-Myers as Possible Takeover Target

The Rumor:

Carl Icahn has reportedly taken a stake in Bristol-Myers BMY. Icahn said the pharma company has a strong pipeline and would make an attractive target, sources said. It was uncertain how large the Icahn stake was in Bristol-Myers.

Bristol-Myers traded as high as $57.21 and closed at $54.78 on Tuesday, up $0.19.