The Risk Arbitrage Report for October 4, 2010

New Deals:

• Southwest Airlines (LUV) to acquire AirTran Holdings (AAI).
• Unilever (UL) to acquire Alberto-Culver (ACV).  
• Earthlink (ELNK) to acquire ITC Deltacom (ITCD.OB).
• Danaher Corp (DHR) to acquire Keithley Instruments (KEI). 
• Greenbriar Equity Group to acquire Dynamex (DDMX). 
• Virtual Radiologic to acquire NightHawk Radiology (NHWK). 
• Dover Downs Gaming (DDE) to acquire Dover Motorsports (DVD). 
• Ranger Energy Investments to acquire National Coal (NCOC). 

Busted Deals:

• Hertz (HTZ) terminates deal with Dollar Thrifty (DTG) after DTG shareholders rejected the deal.

Closed Deals:

• United (UAUA) completes acquisition of Continental Airlines (CAL).  (UAL) 
• Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) completes acquisition of Micrus Endovascular (MEND)
• HP (HPQ) completes acquisition of 3PAR (PAR).
• Aon (AON) completes acquisition of Hewitt Associates (HEW).
• Toronto Dominion (TD) completes acquisition of The South Financial Group (TSFG).   
• Old Republic (ORI) completes acquisition of PMA Capital (PMACA). 
• Kenexa Corp (KNXA) completes acquisition of Salary.com (SLRY).
• Carlyle Group completes acquisition of NBTY (NTY).
• General Motors completes acquisition of Americredit Corp (ACR).
• Biovail (BVF) completes acquisition of Valeant (VRX).
• Skywide Capital completes acquisition of Sinoenergy (SNEN).

Updated Deals:

• Dollar Thrifty (DTG) shareholders vote down the merger with Hertz (HTZ).
• Valeant (VRX) and Biovail Corp (BVF) shareholders approve merger.
• South Financial Group (TSFG) shareholders approve merger with Tronto Dominion (TD).  
• Burger King (BKC) and 3G Capital announce early termination of HSR.
• ZymoGenetics (ZGEN) and Bristol-Myers (BMY) announce expiration of HSR. 
• L.B. Foster (FSTR) extends tender offer for Portec Rail (PRPX) until Nov 15.
• First Niagara (FNFG) files S-4 for NewAlliance (NAL).
• Dollar Thrifty (DTG) board rejects Avis Budget (CAR) offer.
• Enterprise GP (EPE) sets Nov 22 for shareholder vote on merger with Enterprise Products Partners (EPD).
• Buckeye GP (BGH) and Buckeye Partners (BPL) set Nov 16 for shareholder vote. 
• Penwest Pharmaceutical (PPCO) sets Nov 4 for shareholder vote. 
• Mariner Energy (ME) sets Nov 10 for shareholder vote.
• Pinnacle Gas (PINN.PK) amends agreement with Scotia Waterous to extend outside date until Oct 29. 

To Read:

• WSJ: Lessons from Dollar Thrifty (DTG) Battle.  
• DealBook: A New Kind of Defense Against Hostile Bids
• DealBook: A Week of Tests for Deal Strategy