The majority of stocks
involved in deals finished positive on a day of roller coaster Dow Jones Industrial Average movement. After falling nearly 200 points Thursday, the Dow finished up 207.53 points to close at 12,650.36 as investor worries about bond insurers eased on news of MBIA Inc.'s confidence that it can retain its crucial AAA credit rating.
Continue reading below
Alliance Data Systems Corp.'s stock soared Thursday 18.84% to close at $50.57. The company filed suit Wednesday against Blackstone Group LP, charging that the private equity firm is using regulators as a device to back away from its $7.9 billion, or $81.75 per share, deal to buy the company.
KNBT Bancorp Inc.'s shares rose 8.98% to close at $18.20, surpassing the $17.31 per share offer from National Penn Bancshare's to buy the bank. National Penn Bancshare's $464.6 million purchase of KNBT was approved by the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in late December.
The Clear Channel Communications Inc. saga continued Thursday as the company prepares for the $22.8 billion, or $39.20 per share buyout, by Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital LLC. The stock jumped 5.28% to $30.70 per share only two days after its shares slid over 7% to fall below $30 for the first time in over a year on news of an internal company e-mail from CEO John Hogan calling for cost cuts. Activist shareholder Highfields Capital Management LP, which once opposed the Clear Channel buyout, had raised its stake to 7.7% from 6.4%, according to a 13D amendment filing Thursday.
Cumulus Media Partners stock continued to track closely with Clear Channel's movement, climbing 8.09% to close at $6.41 per share. One of the conditions of the Federal Communications Commission approval of the Clear Channel deal requires that buyers keep their holding in Cumulus "nonattributable." - Michael Rudnick
