Monday saw action in
the insurance sector as Alleghany Corporation
purchased Transatlantic Holdings for $3.4 billion.
Executives claim that the fusion of their complimentary product lines
will lead to superior performance. The bidder was down 6.8%,while the
target gained 0.75%. In pharmaceuticals, Gilead Sciences
bought Pharmasset for $11 billion in an all-cash
deal. The buyer is very excited about the Pharmasset’s development
of a new oral treatment regimen for Hepatitis C, which could be
available by 2014. Gilead fell 9% as Pharmasset was boosted a massive
84%, reflecting the large premium being paid. Also that day, eBay
acquired Hunch, a website which utilises a collective intelligence
decision-making system, for an undisclosed amount. The figure is
believed to be in the region of $80 million. Despite the technology
being used to improve eBay’s e-commerce recommendations, the
world’s largest online marketplace dropped 3.6%.
The rest of the
week’s major deals came on Wednesday. Samson Investment Company,
one of the largest unlisted energy firms in the US, was taken over by
a consortium led by KKR for $7.2 billion. The year’s
biggest leveraged buyout would be the latest in a string of
profitable oil and shale gas deals for KKR. The private equity firm
lost 2.5%. Also that day, JPMorgan Chase said that
they would buy MF Global’s 4.7 percent stake in the London Metal
Exchange for $38.9 million. The bankrupt brokerage’s owners are
looking to sell off different assets to repay creditors. Despite the
deal making the buyer the largest shareholder in the exchange, the
financial conglomerate closed 3.5% lower.
