FACTBOX-Spreads of U.S. mergers and acquisitions

Wed Jun 25, 2008 7:57pm BST

[-] Text [+]

 NEW YORK, June 25 (Reuters) - The following list shows the arbitrage spread
for proposed mergers and acquisitions of U.S. companies.

 Historically, the wider the spread, the more investors doubt a deal will
close. Arbitrage spreads measure the difference between the offered takeover
price and the target company's current trading price.

 For real-time spreads, go to <US/ARB/MENU>
ACQUIRER              TARGET             DEAL VALUE*   PRICE/SHARE   SPREAD%
InBev NV              Anheuser-Busch        46,349.87            65       6.33
Mars Inc              Wm Wrigley            21,917.51            80        2.2
Consortium led        Clear Channel         17,900.00            36       1.61
HP                    Electronic Data Sys   12,565.03            25       1.75
CME                   NYMEX                 11,071.73         93.39       2.85
NRG Energy            Calpine               10,916.43         22.95       1.33
Nokia Oyj             NAVTEQ                 7,657.19            78       1.19
Republic Services     Allied Waste           6,550.32         13.83          5
Invitrogen Corp       Applied Biosystems     6,381.65         35.87       7.51
Hexion                Huntsman Corp          6,213.24            28     114.23
Liberty Mutual        Safeco                 6,124.91         68.25       1.41
Consortium            Penn National Gaming   5,732.69            67     106.15
Triarc Co             Wendys                 4,758.27          28.9      -0.31
Sirius                XM                     4,570.57          8.56       9.97
Iberdrola SA          Energy East            4,202.70         32.81      36.38
Bank of America       Countrywide Fin        4,143.76          4.85       4.08
Reed Elsevier         ChoicePoint            3,576.80            50       2.88
Consortium            Puget Energy           3,510.75            30      18.95
Finmeccanica          DRS                    3,359.00            81       2.71
Delta Air             Northwest Air          3,051.85          6.58      11.06
WebMD                 HLTH Corp              2,897.69         13.65      12.52
Smith Intl            W-H Energy             2,894.29         95.15       0.13
United Tech           Diebold Inc            2,631.77            40       9.92
Nationwide Mutual Ins Nationwide Fin         2,204.24          47.2      -3.85
Consortium            Post Properties        2,054.24            47      43.03
Hellman & Friedman    Getty Images           2,024.80            34       1.07
Electronic Arts       Take-Two Interactiv    1,932.61            26       0.81
CBS                   CNET                   1,751.96          11.5       0.17
Great Plains          Aquila Inc             1,701.41          4.08       5.05
Willis Grp Holdings   Hilb Rogal & Hobbs     1,673.94            46       4.86
Precision Drilling    Grey Wolf Inc          1,663.22           9.3      -0.85
Stone Energy          Bois d'Arc Energy      1,650.94         25.06       1.22
Cadence Design        Mentor Graphics        1,453.85            16       4.23
Grey Wolf Inc         Basic Energy           1,418.18          41.2      33.98
Blockbuster           Circuit City           1,346.93             8     138.81
Blackstone            Apria Healthcare       1,281.57            21        6.6
Dubai Intl            Och-Ziff Capital       1,258.62            33      64.18
Management Group      CKX Inc                1,164.71            12      26.45
NOTE: * Deal values in millions of U.S. dollars
SOURCE: Reuters
 (Compiling by Oswald Blackwood; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick)
 (For more M&A news and our DealZone blog, go to
here)