Office Depot, Inc. (ODP) is a solid mover this pre-market session, gaining 7.54% from the previous close, after Staples Inc (SPLS), the No. 1 U.S. office supplier, agreed to buy its rival for $11 a share, or an equity value of about $6.3 billion.
Staples said it would pay $7.25 per share in cash and 0.2188 of its shares for each Office Depot share. The deal represents a premium of 44% over ODP’s closing PPS on Feb. 2. The two companies, which have been under pressure to merge from activist fund Starboard Value LLP, would create a retail chain with about $39 billion in revenue and thousands of stores.
“This is a transformational acquisition which enables Staples to provide more value to customers, and more effectively compete in a rapidly evolving competitive environment,” Ron Sargent, Staples’ chairman and CEO, said in a statement, adding that the merger will mean cost savings of about $1 billion per year.
In premarket trading on Wednesday, Staples slipped nearly 4% to $18.30 while Office Depot climbed to $9.63. SPLS has a market cap of about $11 billion, while ODP has about a $5 billion market cap.
Equities research analysts at Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on shares of Twitter, Inc. (TWTR) to $44 from $40 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday. The firm said the social media company, which has spent 80c of every dollar in revs on R&D in the last year, is becoming increasingly relevant in the daily lives of the public. For now, MC&H recognizes the financial performance may very well exceed their forecasts, but it still boils back down to users and demand in the system.
TWTR shares recently gained $0.69 to $40.48. The stock is down more than 39% year-over-year and has gained roughly 11% year-to-date. In the past 52 weeks, shares of San Francisco, California-based company have traded between a low of $29.51 and a high of $67.24.
Twitter closed Tuesday at $39.79. The name, which will be publishing earnings Feb. 5 after the stock market closes, has a total market cap of $24.88B.
Shares of Nuverra Environmental Solutions, Inc. (NES) are spiking 42% in early market trading Wednesday, after the company announced a definitive agreement has been reached, whereby Clean Harbors will acquire Nuverra’s subsidiary Thermo Fluids Inc. (TFI) for $85 million in an all-cash transaction.
NES shares recently gained $1.39 to $4.50. In the past 52 weeks, shares of Scottsdale, Arizona-based oil and natural gas from shale formations solutions provider have traded between a low of $1.65 and a high of $21.29. Shares are down 78% year-over-year and about 44% year-to-date.
Shares of Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ISIS) were downgraded to a ‘Neutral’ rating from ‘Overweight’ by Piper Jaffray on Wednesday. The firm also cut its 12-month base case estimate to $68 from $81. The firm’s downgrade comes one day after Isis Pharmaceuticals said its experimental diabetes drug was effective in reducing the body weight and blood sugar of patients with type 2 diabetes.
ISIS shares recently lost $3.05 to $61.65. The company has a total market cap of $7.64B.
Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) — The web portal has decided to spin off its Small Business unit, an online service for setting up and running small enterprises, along with its $40 billion stake in Alibaba Group (BABA). The unit is being included as part of a tax-free plan to maximize returns.
Yahoo traded recently traded at $44.97, up 0.62 percent.
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