Merger Arbitrage Mondays – August 15, 2011

Merger Arbitrage Mondays

Merger Arbitrage Mondays – August 15, 2011

August 14, 2011

Given the turmoil in global markets, it was not surprising to see that no new deals announced and only one deal closed last week. Several of the juicy spreads we saw last week in companies like optionsXpress (OXPS), Varian Semiconductor (VSEA) and Blackboard (BBBB) have narrowed considerably since then but plenty of other interesting deals still remain.

You can find all the active deals listed below in our Merger Arbitrage Tool that automatically updates itself during market hours.

Deal Statistics:

Total Number of Deals Closed in 2011	134
Total Number of Deals Not Completed in 2011	1
Total Number of Pending Deals
Cash Deals	37
Stock Deals	24
Stock & Cash Deals	11
Total Number of Pending Deals	72

Deal Updates:

On August 12, 2011, Transatlantic Holdings (TRH) entered into a confidentiality agreement and discussions with National Indemnity Company, a unit of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, over a $3.2 billion takeover offer.
On August 12, 2011, optionsXpress (OXPS) and Charles Schwab (SCHW) received the necessary regulatory approvals to complete their merger. The spread on this deal was 7.7% or 53% annualized when we published the Merger Arbitrage Mondays post last week.

Closed Deal:

The acquisition of Nobel Learning Communities (NLCI) by an affiliate of Leeds Equity Partners on August 09, 2011

Top 10 deals with largest spreads:

Symbol	Announced Date	Acquiring Company	Closing Price	Last Price	Closing Date	Profit	Annualized Profit
GRAN	04/27/2011	FNB United Corp (FNBN)	$1.45	$0.770	09/30/2011	88.47%	702.02%
FNDT	06/27/2011	S1 Corporation (SONE)	$24.75	$15.96	12/31/2011	55.09%	145.70%
CRU	05/05/2011	Capital Product Partners L.P. (CPLP)	$9.27	$6.60	09/30/2011	40.40%	320.57%
HRBN	06/20/2011	Tech Full Electric Company Limited (N/A)	$24.00	$17.91	12/31/2011	34.00%	89.94%
MHS	07/21/2011	Express Scripts, Inc. (ESRX)	$66.62	$53.94	06/30/2012	23.51%	26.81%
TAM	01/19/2011	LAN Airlines S.A. (LFL)	$22.47	$18.25	12/31/2011	23.14%	61.20%
ABVA	07/27/2011	Eagle Bancorp, Inc. (EGBN)	$5.12	$4.60	12/31/2011	11.40%	30.15%
ALTH	07/20/2011	Amag Pharmaceuticals (AMAG)	$1.92	$1.74	12/31/2011	10.30%	27.23%
CSR	04/20/2011	Rightmark Holdings Limited (N/A)	$6.50	$5.95	09/30/2011	9.24%	73.35%
CFSG	05/20/2011	Bain Capital Partners (N/A)	$9.00	$8.31	11/15/2011	8.30%	32.94%

List of all pending deals:

The list of all pending deals is only available to InsideArbitrage Premium and Plus members.

Voluntary Disclosure: I have a long position in Blackboard (BBBB)

Merger Arbitrage Mondays – August 15, 2011

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