Mergers and Acquisitions Cheat Sheet: Nasdaq Rescinds NYX Bid, Plus Weekend Rumors

Take a look at what happened over the weekend in the deal world…

Done Deals

1) Yum Brands (NYSE:YUM), which owns KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut, will now own Little Sheep (LSGLF.PK), a restaurant hot pot chain in China.  Yum certainly hasn’t bit off more than it can chew with a Chinese restaurant brand: the company has been expanding into China since 1987, when it started opening KFC locations there.  In fact, currently one third of Yum’s revenue streams from China.  Yum aims to increase its stake in Little Sheep from 27.2 percent to 93.2 percent in a deal that values the target at approximately $682 million.

2) Nasdaq OMX Group (NASDAQ:NDAQ) and Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) have rescinded their offer to buy NYSE Euronext (NYSE:NYX). Apparently they cannot find a way to get the deal done that will satisfy Antitrust regulators at the US Department of Justice.

In related news, after listening to the Nasdaq OMX Group’s (NASDAQ:NDAQ) desperate pleading with NYSE Euronext (NYSE:NYX) shareholders for the past few weeks, we finally have a word from Deutsche Boerse (DB1)!  The latter’s CEO implored shareholders to tender their shares to support the merger.  Deutsche Boerse downplayed the joint bidders’ competitive offer, claiming that U.S. regulatory authorities were likely to put the kibosh on the deal.

Disappointment is part of life, but this one is a little too hard to take: Takeda Pharmaceutical (TKPYY.PK), which was rumored to be discussing a $14 billion deal with Swiss competitor Nycomed, is now denying that any agreement has occurred.  However, reading between the lines, it’s apparent that while an agreement hasn’t occurred, discussions about making an agreement have!

Here’s some exchange news, but it’s not about Nasdaq!  A group of Canadian banks and pension funds, who dubbed themselves the Maple Acquisition Corp, have put in a $3.6 billion offer for the TMX Group (TMXGF.PK), which had already received a $3 billion takeover proposal from the London Stock Exchange (LSE.L).  Considering Canada’s concern about foreign takeovers, this rival offer may just be the one that is realized.

Remember when the Borders Group (BGPIQ.PK) went bankrupt?  Well, now the vultures are circling, and some may decide to bite.  Borders has allegedly received third-party interest from a source that would run the company as a going concern (but why? It’s losing money!)  However, this potential bidder only wants about 225 of Borders’ 400 stores; no one wants to swallow the whole thing!

Toshiba (TOSBF.PK) is in the tail-end of discussions to make an offer for Landis + Gyr, a smart metering company, for more than $2 billion.  Other private equity firms, namely TPG Capital and EQT Partners, expressed interest as well, but lost out to Toshiba in the auction.

France’s Schneider Electric (SU.PA) claims it is not planning to make an offer for manufacturing company Tyco International (NYSE:TYC), contradicting a newspaper report on Friday that claimed the former would bid upwards of $30 billion for the latter.  The problem is, while Schneider denies that they are even considering such a move, Tyco has expressed openness to the possibility of a deal.  Maybe Schneider missed the memo?

Britain may begin the process of unwinding its positions in the banks it bailed out during the financial crisis, starting with its 83 percent stake (no, that’s not a typo) in Royal Bank of Scotland (NYSE:RBS).  The British will likely start with an $8.1 billion share sale, possibly in the first half of 2012.  The potential buyers may be institutional investors and Middle Eastern or Asian sovereign wealth funds.  In order for any of this to happen, various British commissions must approve.

The clock is ticking for BP (NYSE:BP) to figure out how to put together a compromise that would allow it to enter an Arctic alliance with Russian state oil giant Rosneft (ROSN.ME).  BP has of late considered the sale of its stake in the joint venture TNK-BP (TNBP.ME) to Rosneft, a deal that would be worth approximately $30 billion.  They may have to get rid of their stake somehow, because their partners in the joint venture don’t want BP to partner up with Rosneft to explore the Arctic Sea for oil.

Interact: Which deals do you think will get done? Which are just PR from hedge funds and traders? Let us know in the comments below …