Why TransCanada, Chemtura, Yahoo, Verizon, and More Are in the Spotlight

As is the case on many Mondays, today is another busy day in terms of M&A events. In today’s case, two M&A deals have occurred or have potentially occurred, while a previous M&A deal looks like it is in more danger.

In this article, we’ll examine the M&A deals concerning Columbia Pipeline Partners LP (NYSE:CPPL), TransCanada Corporation (USA) (NYSE:TRP), Chemtura Corp (NYSE:CHMT), Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), and Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) and use the latest 13F filings to see how some of the most successful investors are positioned in each stock.

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TransCanada Corporation (USA) (NYSE:TRP)‘s wholly owned subsidiary has offered to buy all of the outstanding common units of Columbia Pipeline Partners LP (NYSE:CPPL) for $15.75 in cash per common unit. The offer price represents a slight premium to Columbia Pipeline Partners’ closing price on September 23 and an 11.3% premium to the 30-day average closing price of Columbia Pipeline as of the same day. According to the press release, TransCanada’s offer has been made to the Board of Directors of the general partner of Columbia Pipeline. A committee composed of the Independent Directors of Columbia Pipeline’s Board will be formed to consider the offer and the transaction will also need approval by the majority of Columbia Pipeline’s common unitholders. Given the small premium offered, it is unclear whether Columbia shareholders or its Board will approve the deal.

Of the 749 hedge funds that we track which filed 13Fs for the June 30 reporting period, 18 them had a long position in TransCanada Corporation (USA) (NYSE:TRP) at the end of June, while ten were bullish on Columbia Pipeline Partners LP (NYSE:CPPL).

Chemtura Corp (NYSE:CHMT) shares have soared by over 15% after German chemical company Lanxess AG agreed to buy it for $33.50 per share in cash. That translates to an 18.9% premium to the stock’s closing price on September 23 and indicates a total transaction value of around $2.5 billion. The Boards of both companies have unanimously given the thumbs up to the deal, which should close around mid-2017. 22 funds in our database were long Chemtura Corp (NYSE:CHMT) at the end of June, up by three funds from the end of March.

On the next page we’ll find out why Yahoo! and Verizon are in the spotlight.