Wall Street's M&A Chatter From January 12

The following are the M&A deals, rumors and chatter circulating on Wall Street for Thursday, January 12, 2017.

Alibaba Rumored to Have Interest in Groupon

The Rumor:

Shares of Groupon GRPN rose on unconfirmed market chatter that social couponing company is in talks to be acquired by Alibaba BABA for around $5 per share. The rumor comes after President-elect Donald Trump met with Alibaba CEO Jack Ma and discussed investment in the U.S.

Alibaba currently owns a 5.6 percent stake in Groupon.

Groupon closed Thursday at $3.57, up 2 percent.

ClubCorp Confirms Reviewing Strategic Alternatives

The Review:

ClubCorp Holdings Inc MYCC announced that the Board of Directors has established a Strategic Review Committee to review and evaluate alternatives to further enhance shareholder value. The committee is working with advisors Jefferies and Wells Fargo Securities and will report its findings to the full Board of Directors.

That announcement follows a report from Reuters that the owner and operator of private golf and country clubs was exploring a sale.

Shareholder FrontFour Capital Group sent a letter to the company's CEO and Board of Directors in September, urging the Board to pursue strategic alternatives, including a potential sale, to unlock shareholder value.

ClubCorp closed at $17.35 on Thursday, up 15.67 percent.

Canada's AltaGas in Talks to Merge With D.C. Utility WGL

The Rumor:

Canada's AltaGas Ltd. ATGFF is in merger talks to combine with Washington DC natural-gas utility owner, WGL Holdings Inc WGL, according to sources as reported by the Wall Street Journal. A deal could be announced this month and is said to be valued at $5 billion to $6 billion, the sources said.

WGL closed at $80.26 on Thursday, up 5.91 percent.