Merger Arbitrage: Transatlantic Rebuffs, Ralcorp Spurns, Tyco Splits, United Technologies In Talks, Fed Reviewing “Too Big To Fail”

Transatlantic Rebuffs Berkshire Hathaway (Insider Monkey)

Transatlantic Holdings rebuffed Berkshire Hathaway’s cash bid of $3.25 billion, ensuring the deal would expire by market close on Monday. Berkshire Hathaway informed Transatlantic on Friday that its offer of $52 per share would not increase. However, Transatlantic said in a statement that Berkshire’s “opportunistic” bid is far below its value of nearly $70 per share.

Ralcorp Spurns ConAgra’s $5.2 Billion Advance (Insider Monkey)

Ralcorp Holdings (RAH), again, rejected a $5.2 billion merger bid by ConAgra after citing the multi-billion offer as insufficient, ensuring that the deal will expire by market close on Monday without further negotiations beginning. In a statement, Ralcorp announced that its Board of Directors had met again to consider – and decline – ConAgra’s $94-a-share offer, which expires at 5 p.m. on Monday. Ralcorp’s 52-week high is only $90.51 per share.

Tyco To Split (Wall Street Journal)

Tyco International said that it planned to split into three public companies, the latest business to announce a breakup to bolster growth. In the next year, the conglomerate is looking to cleave off its North American residential alarm system unit, its flow control group and its commercial security business into separate companies.

United Technologies In Sky High Talks with Goodrich Corp. (BusinessWeek)

United Technologies Corp. is in talks to buy aerospace equipment maker Goodrich Corp., which jumped 12% on Monday, as United looks to expand through major acquisition.

Fed Mulling Another “Too Big To Fail” Bank, Consumer Groups Say (Reuters)

Consumer Groups will try to convince the Federal Reserve on Tuesday to halt the takeover of ING Groep NV by Capital One Financial Corp, claiming that it would be a rehash of “too big to fail.” The $9 billion deal will be a bellwether for the Fed’s stance on big-bank mergers in the wake of the financial crisis of 2007-2009 in the first of three nationwide conferences.