News Summary (EBAY, JEF, APSG, RTN)

EBay Inc EBAY announced its plans to buy German online shopping club brands4friends for $200 million in cash. EBAY is expecting the deal to close in the first quarter of 2011. Doug McCallum, Senior Vice President for eBay in Europe said, “With the acquisition of brands4friends, we will enter the online shopping club market with an established and dynamic partner who has the expertise, relationships and passion to match our own ambition. We expect many eBay customers will enjoy great deals on international fashion brands by joining the brands4friends community.” EBAY shares were down about 0.4%. Jefferies & Co JEF reported upbeat FQ4 earnings. JEF's earnings came in at $0.35 per share, down from $0.46 per share, in the year-ago period. The company's revenue increased to $679.9 million, from $531.6 million, in the year-ago quarter. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.32 per share. JEF shares were down about 0.6%. Shares of Applied Signal Technology Inc APSG gained about 8% after Raytheon Co RTN announced its plans to purchase APSG for about $490 million, or $38 per share in cash, representing a 9% premium to APSG's closing price on Friday. The company is expecting the deal to close in the first three months of next year. Read more from Benzinga's Markets.