Wall Street's M&A Chatter From October 19: Uniqure, Ulta, Sally Beauty, Tribune -Sinclair

The following are the M&A deals, rumors and chatter circulating on Wall Street for Thursday, October 19, 2017.

Uniqure Acquires Patent Family

The Deal:

Uniqure NV QURE acquired a patent family from University of Padua, Italy Professor PaoloSimioni, a renowned hemophilia expert. The patent family covers a hyperactive variant of Factor IX carrying an R338L mutation for use in gene therapy.

Patent applications are pending in the U.S., Europe, and Canada. The USPTO issued a patent last year, which includes claims directed to Factor IX protein with a leucine at the R338 position of the protein sequence, nucleic acid sequences coding for this protein, and therapeutic applications, including gene therapy. Terms were not disclosed.

Uniqure closed Thursday at $15.16, up $5.69.

Ulta Shares Surge on Takeover Chatter

The Rumor:

Shares of Ulta Beauty Inc ULTA surged higher, as traders circulated unconfirmed takeover chatter. "Sources" said the company had turned down a $248 per share offer from Amazon AMZN, with a potentially higher offer coming from Walmart WMT.

A note from D.A. Davidson analyst Linda Bolton Weiser referred to the Walmart/Ulta rumor and speculated Amazon might have an interest in Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc. SBH.

Ulta closed at $204.62, up $6.25. Sally Beauty closed at $16.87, down 88 cents.

Tribune Media Shareholders Approve Sinclair Merger

The Approval:

Tribune Media Co TRCO announced that its shareholders voted overwhelmingly to approve the previously announced acquisition of the company by Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc SBGI. More than 99 percent of the votes cast at the special meeting were to approve the merger.

Tribune Media closed at $40.57, down $0.16.