Benzinga's M&A Chatter for Tuesday December 13, 2011

Two rumors involving Apple, and Baxter's deal for Synovis top today's headlines. Apple to Acquire Anobit The Rumor: Apple AAPL in talks to purchase Israeli flash memory company Anobit for $400 million to $500 million, according to Calcalist. One of two Apple rumors for the day. Benzinga placed calls to Apple and Anobit. Apple declined to comment and Anobit did not return the call. Apple to Acquire Fusion-io The Rumor: Apple AAPL may have an interest in acquiring storage memory platform company Fusion-io FIO, according to The Street. Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is Fusion-io's Chief Scientist. Benzinga placed calls to Apple and Fusion-io. Apple declined to comment and Fusion-io did not respond. Fusion-io shares spiked sharply higher on The Street article around 10:20am. Fusion-io traded Tuesday in a range of $25.22 to $27.33 on twice the average daily volume, closing at $25.45, a loss of 2% for the day. Baxter Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire Synovis for $28 per Share The Deal: Baxter International BAX agrees to acquire Synovis Life Technologies SYNO for $28 per share. Synovis shares were halted at 7:55am Tuesday and resumed at 8:30, near the acqusition price. Shares of Synovis traded Tuesday in a range of $27.73 to $27.97 on 79 times the average daily volume and closed at $27.79, a gain of 50% for the day. Consol Energy to Acquire Walter Energy The Rumor: Consol Energy CNX to acquire Walter Energy WLT for as much as $110 per share. Walter Energy is a frequent target of M&A chatter. Benzinga placed calls into both Walter Energy and Consol Energy. Walter Energy reiterated its policy not to comment on rumors. Consol Energy did not respond. Walter Energy shares traded Tuesday in a range of $60.12 to $66.49 on about 15% higher than average daily volume. Walter Energy closed at $60.99, a loss of 5.50% for the day. Ebay to Acquire MercadoLibre The Rumor: Ebay EBAY to acquire Latin American E-commerce company MercadoLibre MELI for $125 per share. Ebay already owns 19% of MercadoLibre. Benzinga placed calls into both Ebay and MercardoLibre. Neither company responded. MercadoLibre shares traded Tuesday in a range of $88.42 to $92.85 on about the average daily volume and closed at $89.16, a loss of 1.64% for the day. Avaya to Acquire Radvision The Rumor: Privately-held Avaya to acquire Israeli VOIP company Radvision RVSN for $200 million or approximately $16 per share, according to Israeli business site Globes. Benzinga placed calls into both Radvision and Avaya. Radvision CFO Adi Sfadia would not comment on rumors and an Avaya spokesperson also had "no comment". Radvision shares traded Tuesday in a range of $8.19 to $10.27 on 28 times the average daily volume. Radvision closed at $9.72, a gain of 15.44% for the day. ThyssenKrupp to Acquire US Steel The Rumor: Germany materials company ThyssenKrupp (TYEKF) to acquire US Steel X for $35 per share. Benzinga placed calls into both US Steel and ThyssenKrupp. US Steel had no comment, ThyssenKrupp did not reply. US Steel shares traded Tuesday in a range of $25.51 to $26.90 on slightly more than the average daily volume. US Steel closed at $25.78, a loss of 1.15% for the day. Schlumberger/Halliburton to Acquire Heckmann The Rumor: Heckmann HEK could be a takeover target for either Schlumberger SLB or Halliburton HAL, according to Bloomberg. CEO Richard Heckmann told Bloomberg his company was not for sale. Heckmann shares traded Tuesday in a range of $6.34 to $6.54 on twice the average daily volume and closed at $6.38, a gain of 1% for the day.