M&A Weekly Recap: Potential Suitors Eschewing Best Buy, Bank of Nova Scotia to Buy Canadian ING

General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) has purchased the defense operations of private equity Gayston Corporation, which is a provider of precision metal components used in the production of rocket motor tubes for the United States Army’s Hydra-70 air-to-ground rocket program. The transaction is expected to be accretive to earnings next year; the financials are as of yet unreported.

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Stratex Oil & Gas has offered approximately $124 million in cash and stock for Magellan Petroleum Corporation (NASDAQ:MPET). The bid represents $2.30 per share, which is a 137 percent windfall to MPET’s Friday close.

Rackspace Hosting, Inc. (NYSE:RAX) purchases the startup Mailgun, which created developer tools for accessing and managing e-mail from within an application or service, that avoids the need to go through complex and tedious setup measures. The buyer will join Mailgun’s solutions with its own recent intro OpenStack cloud infrastructure platform.

Shares of Ramtron International Corporation (NASDAQ:RMTR) dip subsequent to its statement that it will “review and consider” Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:CY)’s new buyout bid of $2.88 per share in cash. Cypress’ latest offer is well above a prior $2.68 per share bid, and is also in the face of Ramtron’s disappointing second quarter results. Is Ramtron demurring in hopes of an even better offer from some other suitor?

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Officials in Canada have waited weeks to comment upon Cnooc Limited’s (NYSE:CEO) $15 billion takeover offer for Nexen Inc. (NYSE:NXY), but they now are said to be looking for reciprocity with current Chinese restrictions on foreign investment.

Liberty Media Corp. (NASDAQ:LMCA) nears the full control of Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRI), as it raises its investment in the satellite radio company to 48.8 percent from 48.1 percent by purchasing 40 million shares at $2.53 each. Liberty is waiting for a Federal Communications Commission approval to take over Sirius.

Negotiations with labor groups are suspended at the takeover target American Airlines (AAMRQ.PK), after it asked US Airways Group, Inc. (NYSE:LCC) to do so, according to the union for US Airways pilots. The former is in opposition to a transitional labor accord in the merger.

The declining business model of Best Buy Co. (NYSE:BBY) is likely scaring potential private equity suitors away, says Brian Nagel at Oppenheimer. The analyst thus opines that a buyout of Best Buy is not likely, even though such a deal could be feasible, and the company’s adequate cash flow and balance sheet that remains healthy, could support the added leverage associated with a leveraged buyout.

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Linux supplier Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE:RHT) has purchased business process management software technology from Spain’s Polymita Technologies. The buyer says that Polymita’s solutions accelerate its debut in the BPM software market, and complement its JBoss middleware solutions as well. Red Hat has been recently enlarging its software horizons, and in June acquired a middleware product line from Progress Software.

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The tortured decisions involving ING Groep N.V. (NYSE:ING) divesting its $1 billion Hong Kong insurance division separately from its other Asian operations, may be finally reaching a conclusion, according to Reuters. If the firm does sell separately, such a move might hurry the process up, and bring better value from a buyer that’s focused only on that market.

Glencore International’s (GLCNF.PK) $70 billion merger with Xstrata plc (XSRAF.PK)(XSRAY.PK) is now more likely to fail as NBIM, which manages Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, goes along with the State of Qatar in opposition to the terms of the deal. Both the firms recently upped their investments in Xstrata, and thus possess de facto vetoes over the transaction.

EI DuPont de Nemours & Co. (NYSE:DD) DuPont Professional Products insecticide division will be purchased by Syngenta AG (NYSE:SYT). The acquired company is a top provider of innovative products for the home pest control, professional turf, and ornamentals markets. Through the terms of the $125 million transaction, Syngenta will acquire a world-scale business that includes established pest control brands Advion and Acelepryn along with other intellectual property, and a number of employees. The buyer will also have access to the related active ingredients and formulated products from DuPont through exclusive supply and licensing arrangements. The acquisition should close in the fourth quarter.

Cnooc Limited (NYSE:CEO) has submitted a formal application for government approval of its $15 billion offer to acquire Canada’s Nexen Inc. (NYSE:NXY). Apparently, reciprocity on trade issues by China will not break the deal, according to some analysts. However, since the application was submitted more than a month after the bid was announced, investors could have to wait at least until November or perhaps longer for a decision.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) has recruited Barclays to search out a buyer for Motorola Mobility’s cable hardware division, according to two sources to Bloomberg. The unit, which supplies set-top boxes and cable infrastructure equipment, could bring approximately $2 billion, says one of the sources.

Mando of South Korea is considering the purchase of the 70 percent of Halla Climate Control currently owned by the American autoparts company Visteon Corporation (NYSE:VC). Analysts such as Lee Hyung Sil at Shinyoung Securities are dubious, remarking that Mando does not “have the means.” Visteon unsuccessfully attempted last month to buy the remaining 30 percent in Halla, which has a market cap of $2.3 billion.

AMR Corporation (AAMRQ.PK) is currently in discussions so as to obtain between $1 billion and $2 billion in equity financing from a group of distressed debt funds which includes JPMorgan Securities (NYSE:JPM), that holds more than $600 million in the carrier’s bonds. The proceeds would help AMR to both get out of bankruptcy protection and also place it in a stronger position while it negotiates a potential linkup with US Airways Group, Inc. (NYSE:LCC).

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The Carlyle Group (NYSE:CG) purchases subsidiary DuPont Performance Coatings from E.I. DuPont de Nemours and Company (NYSE:DD) for a price of $4.9 billion. The transaction should close in the first quarter of next year, and concludes various rounds of offers that lasted for most of this summer.

Johnson & Johnson’s (NYSE:JNJ) Janssen Biotech division acquires worldwide licensing rights to the cancer agent daratumumab from Danish biotech Genmab in a transaction potentially worth over $1.1 billion. Janssen will pay $55 million upfront and additional payments upon the achievement of development, regulatory and sales milestones. J&J is also buying an $80 million stake in Genmab.

Validus Holdings, Ltd. (NYSE:VR) will buy Flagstone Reinsurance Holdings, S.A. (NYSE:FSR) in a $600 million cash and stock transaction, which the buyer hopes will reinforce its property reinsurance operations. Validus is paying $8.43 per share, which marks a 19 percent bonus to Flagstone’s Wednesday close.

Nokia Siemens (NYSE:NOK)(NYSE:SI) is reportedly in “advanced talks” to divest its Business Support Systems division, according to Bloomberg. The unit supplies billing services to carriers, and is said to have brought interest from LM Ericsson Telephone Company (NASDAQ:ERIC), Amdocs Ltd (NYSE:DOX), and private equity firms. According to several sources, it could bring a sale price of €300 million, or $377 million.

The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) will acquire the Canadian division of ING for $3.1 billion, funded by the buyer’s secondary of 29 million shares at $52. The net investment footing, less excess capital at ING Bank of Canada, will amount to $1.9 billion.

MIPS Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:MIPS) wants to find a buyer in the near-term, and Gary Mobley at Benchmark believes that it will, saying that a meeting with management left him confident that the firm’s “assets will be broken up and sold within the next four months.” The analyst thinks that the United Kingdom-based graphics core developer Imagination Tech Grp (IGNMF.PK) is the most logical buyer, and that also that offers from ARM Holdings, plc (NASDAQ:ARMH), Ceva, Inc. (NASDAQ:CEVA), or Synopsys, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNPS) are in the realm of possibility. Mobley has a price target of $10 on the shares in the meantime.

The votes against the proposed Glencore International (GLCNF.PK) $70 billion merger with Xstrata Plc Adr (XSRAY.PK) are mounting, with investment fund Knight Vinke, which owns 0.51 percent in Xstrata, going along with Qatar Holding (12.3 percent) in opposition to the deal until the terms improve. Schroder (1 percent) said on Thursday that it will vote against as well, with Norway’s NBIM (2.97 percent) also holding out for better terms. Only 16 percent is needed by opponents to block the merger.

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InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ:IACI) purchases the ad-supported online dating site DateHookup.com for an unreported amount. DateHookup is the latest to appear in an InterActive portfolio of online dating sites, which also includes Match.com and OkCupid.com.

MGC Diagnostics Corporation (MGCD) has divested the software and support assets of its New Leaf division to Life Time Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:LTM) for a price of $1 million at the close, with an extra $235,000 to be paid over the next 18 months. At the same time, the firm also reported fiscal third quarter loss 3 cents per share, which is one cent more than a year ago.

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