Benzinga's M&A Chatter for Thursday, October 27, 2016

The following are the M&A deals, rumors and chatter circulating on Wall Street for Thursday, October 27, 2016:

CenturyLink in Advanced Talks to Merge With Level 3 Communications The Rumor:
CenturyLink Inc. CTL is said to be in advanced talks to merge with Level 3 Communications Inc. LVLT, according to sources as reported by Dow Jones on Thursday. A deal could be announced in the coming weeks, the sources said, though terms of the deal were not known.

CenturyLink closed at $31.00 on Thursday, up 9.73%.

Qualcomm to Acquire NXP Semiconductors for $110/Share in Cash The Deal:
Qualcomm Incorporated QCOM and NXP Semiconductors N.V. NXPI announced Thursday, an agreement under which Qualcomm will acquire NXP for $110.00 per share in cash, for a total enterprise value of approximately $47 billion. A subsidiary of Qualcomm will commence a tender offer to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of NXP for $110.00 per share in cash.

The transaction is expected to close by the end of calendar 2017.

NXP Semiconductors closed at $99.08.16 on Thursday, up $0.42.

GE in Talks to Acquire Baker Hughes The Rumor:
General Electric Co. GE is said to be in talks to acquire Baker Hughes Inc. BHI, according to sources as reported by Dow Jones on Thursday. A deal could be valued at as much as $30 billion, the sources said. Bloomberg later reported that a GE spokesperson said they are is in talks with Baker Hughes regarding possible partnerships, but not an acquisition. Halliburton Co. HAL had attempted to acquire Baker Hughes in 2014, but the DoJ sued to block the deal valued at $35 billion.

Baker Hughes closed Thursday at $54.55 and traded as high as $65.50 after-hours.

Sanchez, Blackstone May Partner to Acquire Anadarko's S. Texas Assets The Rumor:
Sanchez Energy Corp. SN is said to be in talks to partner with Blackstone Group BX on acquiring Anadarko Petroleum's APC South Texas oil-and-gas assets, according to sources as reported by Dow Jones on Thursday. A deal for the assets could be valued at between $3 billion and $3.5 billion and could be announced in a matter of weeks, the sources said.

Sanchez Energy closed Thursday at $7.18, up 2.87%.