Wall Street's M&A Chatter From December 29

The following are the M&A deals, rumors and chatter circulating on Wall Street for Thursday December 29, 2016.

Kate Spade Said to Said to Begin Formal Sale Process in January

The Rumor:

Kate Spade & Co KATE is said to be planning to begin a formal sale process next month, according to a source as reported by Bloomberg on Thursday. The source says there are six potential bidders.

The NY Post reported that activist investor Caerus Investors' Ward Davis said he had constructive dialogue with the Kate Spade board. On Wednesday, Dow Jones reported that the marketer of women's apparel and accessories was considering a sale.

A Kate Spade spokesperson told Benzinga it doesn't comment on industry rumors or speculation, per company policy.

Kate Spade closed Thursday at $18.49, up 3.53 percent.

JNJ Said to Consider Placing Actelion R&D Assets in Separate Co as Part of Takeover Deal

The Rumor:

Johnson & Johnson JNJ is said to be working on a deal that would separate Actelion Ltd's ALIOF R&D assets from its commercialized portfolio, according to sources as reported by Reuters. The R&D assets would be placed in a new public company and would allow J&J to offer approximately $260 per share, which is higher than its last offer before negotiations broke off.

J&J and Actelion declined to comment.

JNJ closed Thursday at $115.49, up $0.39.

PHH Announces Sale and Subservicing Agreements for its Entire non-GNMA Mortgage Servicing Rights Portfolio to New Residential Investment Corp for ~$912M

The Deal:

PHH Corporation PHH announced it has entered into an agreement with New Residential Investment Corp. NRZ for the sale of its entire portfolio of mortgage servicing rights and related servicing advances for approximately $912 million, excluding the Ginnie Mae MSRs and related servicing advances that were part of the sale transaction announced in November 2016.

PHH entered also entered into a subservicing agreement with New Residential, under which PHH will subservice the 480,000 mortgage loans underlying the MSRs to be acquired by New Residential for an initial period of three years, subject to certain termination provisions. The transaction is expected to close during Q2 of 2017, but no later than Q3 2017.

PHH Corporation closed at $15.11 on Thursday, up 5.66 percent.