Among the companies with shares expected to actively trade in
Wednesday's session are Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. (CTB), Rambus
Inc. (RMBS) and Ulta Salon Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc.
(ULTA).
Indian tire maker Apollo Tyres Ltd. (500877.BY) agreed to
acquire Cooper Tire in a deal valued at about $2.5 billion that is
expected to create the seventh-largest tire company in the world
with a significant presence in the U.S., Europe and China. Under
the deal, which has been approved by the boards of both companies,
Cooper shareholders will receive $35 a share, a 43% premium to the
stock's Tuesday closing price. Cooper shares rose 40% to $34.27 in
premarket trading. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (GT) shares also
rose 5.8% to $15.45.
Rambus said South Korea's SK Hynix Inc. (HXSCF, 000660.SE) has
agreed to pay $240 million as part of a patent dispute over
memory-chip technology that has dragged on since 2000. Rambus
shares jumped 9.5% to $8.79 premarket.
Ulta Salon's fiscal first-quarter earnings rose 20% as the
beauty-products retailer benefited from double-digit sales growth.
Shares of Ulta were up 9.6% at $92.21 in premarket trading as
profit and revenue beat expectations.
Health Management Associates Inc.'s (HMA) largest shareholder
has asked the hospital operator to either remove its poison pill or
raise the trigger to 25% from 15%. Glenview Capital Management LLC
filed documents late Tuesday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission asking for the change to the poison pill provision, and
also said it is evaluating a range of measures including
potentially changing all or part of Health Management's board.
Class A shares rose 11% to $15.50 premarket.
First Solar Inc. (FSLR) has begun an offering of 8.5 million
shares as the solar-panel maker looks to raise funds for general
corporate purposes. The company had 87.8 million shares outstanding
as of May 3. Shares were down 5.5% at $49.40 premarket.
Icahn Enterprises LP (IEP) said it has commenced an offering of
depositary units representing limited partner interests, but didn't
specify how many units it was selling. The firm had about 109.5
million units outstanding as of May 2. Units slipped 6.2% to $74.61
premarket.
Spectra Energy Corp. (SE) said it plans to drop down its
remaining U.S. transmission and storage assets to Spectra Energy
Partners (SEP) by the end of the year, a move that will allow both
companies to increase their dividends. Shares rose 8.8% to $33.00
premarket.
Watchlist:
Enbridge Energy Partners L.P. (EEP) said it intends to file
plans to spin off some of its natural gas and natural-gas midstream
assets in an initial public offering, joining a stream of companies
forming master limited partnerships in the sector.
Newcastle Investment Corp. (NCT) plans to offer 30 million
shares and will use proceeds for general corporate purposes,
including acquisitions of senior housing properties. The
real-estate investment trust had 253 million shares outstanding as
of May 2.
Oxford Industries Inc.'s (OXM) fiscal first-quarter earnings
sank 24% as the apparel company posted higher costs related to the
expansion of its Tommy Bahama and Lilly Pulitzer brands, masking
stronger revenue and margins.
Pandora Media Inc. (P) is buying a small radio station in South
Dakota in an effort to lower its royalty rates.
PetSmart Inc. (PETM) said outgoing Chief Executive Bob Moran
will step down from the board, and named Gregory P. Josefowicz to
the role of chairman.
Yum Brands Inc. (YUM), the parent company of Taco Bell, Pizza
Hut and KFC, said its same-store sales in China fell an estimated
19% in May, as KFC continues to suffer from the lingering impact of
a bird-flu scare and quality issues with some of its chicken
suppliers. The key sales figure was in line with Wall Street
analysts' expectations, according to Consensus Metrix, and marked
some improvement from April, when it dropped 29%.
Write to Anna Prior at anna.prior@dowjones.com
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