Benzinga's M&A Chatter for Tuesday February 23, 2016

The following are the M&A deals, rumors and chatter circulating on Wall Street for Tuesday February 23, 2016: Thomas H. Lee Said to have Approached Shutterfly with Buyout Proposal The PE Approach:
Private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners is said to be the company that approached Shutterfly Inc SFLY with a preliminary acquisition proposal, according to sources as reported by Reuters on Tuesday. That followed a disclosure from Shutterfly that they received communications directed to the Board from a private equity firm indicating an interest in acquiring the company. Shutterfly did not disclose the name of the PE firm. Shutterfly did not respond to a request for comment. A Thomas H. Lee spokesperson declined comment. Shutterfly closed at $43.98 on Tuesday, up 7.48%. IBM Security to Acquire Resilient Systems for $100M+ The Rumor:
IBM is acquiring Resilient Systems, a provider of incident response platform, according to Xconomy. The purchase price is said to be more than $100 million. The deal is expected to close in Q2 of 2016. IBM and Resilient Systems did not respond to requests for comment. IBM shares fell 1% on Tuesday, to close at $132.40. Newport to be Acquired by MKS Instruments for $23.00/Share The Deal:
MKS Instruments, Inc. MKSI and Newport Corporation NEWP announced Tuesday, that they have agreed that MKS Instruments will acquire Newport Corporation for $23.00 per share in cash. The transaction is valued at approximately $980 million. Newport closed at $22.76 on Tuesday, up 51%. Honeywell Says does Not See Regulatory Process as Obstacle to Deal With UTX The Comments:
Honeywell HON confirmed Tuesday, that it has engaged in discussions with United Technologies Corporation UTX regarding a possible business combination. The talks took place over the past year. Honeywell said it does not see the regulatory process as a material obstacle to a transaction. United Technologies on Monday, also confirmed the talks, but believed regulatory issues would pose a big obstacle to a potential deal. Honeywell said a merger would create annualized cost synergies of $3.5 billion. United Technologies closed at $91.60 on Tuesday, down $0.77.