Earlier today, the Street was abuzz with rumors that Kraft Foods (NYSE: KFT) was investigating the sale of brands such as Maxwell House and Oscar Mayer in order to raise capital to up its Cadbury (NYSE: CBY) bid to something a little bit sweeter (and one the confectionery giant might not reject).

Kraft responded to the rumors saying they were just that - unfounded conjecture - and noted that it would not in fact need to ditch hot dogs and coffee for creme eggs and Trident gum. A spokeswoman for the company told Reuters "The financing for this proposal does not require any divestitures." So where did these rumors get started, anyway? Is Kraft protesting too much?

Late Monday, VMware (NYSE: VMW) announced that it will acquire SpringSource, a privately held company. The deal carries a total value of $420 million, which will consist of $362 million in cash and equity along with $58 million in unvested stock and options. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of the year.

The acquisition is believed to have been made in order to help VMW expand its management software in order to work with what is known as cloud computing services. Cloud computing is a service over the Internet where users have an external company run the applications.

Tibco Software (NASDAQ: TIBX - option chain) shares are rising today on reports from Swiss newspaper NZZ am Sonntag that SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) is considering an acquisition of the company. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on TIBX.

TIBX opened this morning at $9.53. So far today the stock has hit a low of $9.16 and a high of $9.87. As of 11:35, TIBX is trading at $9.42 up 0.95 (11.2%). The chart for TIBX looks bullish and S&P gives TIBX a positive 4 STARS (out of 5) buy ranking.

Private equity returns are down 27.6% year-over-year for the 12-month period ending July 30, 2009, according to a Preqin report received by BloggingStocks. The London-based research house notes, however, that the global private equity industry's dry powder (i.e., uncommitted assets) continues to exceed $1 trillion, suggesting that there is still plenty of capital waiting for a rainy day.

Returns for the past 12 months reflect all the nastiness we've seen and lived -- bailouts, company collapses, equity and credit market mayhem and unemployment rates dangerously close to double-digits. But, the money is still coming in. Preqin puts the rate by which contributions outpaced distributions at 235% for buyout funds in 2008. This category raised $148 billion while distributing only $63 billion, making last year the most imbalanced for these two measures in history.

As Jon Ogg reported, Allergan, Inc. (NYSE: AGN - option chain) rallied sharply on Tuesday amid rumors that GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) was mulling a takeover bid. Speculative investors jumped all over the news, as option volume on AGN skyrocketed well beyond normal levels yesterday. Interestingly enough, it seems that some traders took advantage of the stock's surge to initiate new bearish positions.

Specifically, AGN on Tuesday saw 15,850 puts cross the tape, which represents about 14.5 times its average daily put trading volume. Meanwhile, 59,943 call contracts changed hands, marking 11.5 times the norm.

Stern fans, breathe easy! In breaking news this morning, SIRIUS XM Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI) and Liberty Media Corp. (NASDAQ: LMDIA) have reached a deal that will save the satellite radio company (for now) from the brink of bankruptcy.

Liberty will invest $530 million in SIRI, kicking off with a first phase: a senior secured loan worth $280 million, $250 million of which will be paid out today.

In response, Liberty will assume two spots on the SIRIUS XM board and receive 12.5 million shares of preferred stock, convertible into 40% of common SIRI shares.

SIRI CEO Mel Karmazin, told reporters, "Liberty's investment is an important validation of what SIRIUS XM has already achieved and a vote of confidence in what we will achieve..."

In pre-market trading, SIRI shares have jumped more than 80% to 19 cents per share.

Beth Gaston Moon works for WeSeed.com. The above comments are not intended as trading or investment advice.

About a year ago, the security software operator, Aladdin Knowledge Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ: ALDN), was trading at about $25 per share. But with the plunge in Nasdaq and the slowing economy, the stock fell to a low of $5.85.

While the stock has come back a bit, it wasn't enough. So, this week, Aladdin decided to go private. The private equity sponsor, Vector Capital, is no stranger to such tech small-cap deals. The firm has a good sense of value for these things.

The buyout comes to about $11.50 per share or $160 million.

For the most part, Aladdin has a solid technology platform, with top clients. According to its latest quarterly report, the company posted revenues of $31.7 million, up 22% over the past year. Net income was $2.9 million, or $0.20 per share. Aladdin has also made a variety of acquisitions, such as for SafeWord and Eutronsec.

While the buyout market remains fairly dormant, there are still some deals getting done – especially for companies that are growing and have attractive valuations.

In today's trading, Aladdin's shares are up 14.58% to $11.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Streetsmart Guide to Short Selling: Techniques the Pros Use to Profit in Any Market. He is also the founder of BizEquity, a valuation website.

Constellation Energy Group (NYSE: CEG - option chain) shares have moved higher today after French power company EDF offered a $6.5 billion bid for half of CEG's nuclear business and other assets. The offer challenges an earlier bid from MidAmerican, a unit of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A).

If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on CEG.

CEG opened this morning at $30.00. So far today the stock has hit a low of $27.37 and a high of $30.17. As of 12:35, CEG is trading at $28.04, up $2.89 (11.5%). The chart for CEG looks neutral and S&P gives CEG a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold ranking.

For a bullish hedged play on this stock, I would consider a December bull-put credit spread below the $22.50 range.

Last night, I was at the Bloblive event in Philly where people go on stage and talk about their cool business ideas. Interestingly enough, the event organizers used Facebook to invite people. And, at the event, there was a live Twitter feed, where users could make comments.

It was cool stuff, which shows the effective use of integrating social media.

Well, speaking of integrating things, it looks like Facebook has had some serious discussions to buy Twitter. Iin light of the slowing economy, I'm sure that these discussions are popping up among many social media companies.

The proposed price tag? A cool $500 million.

However, it was not for cash; instead, it was for Facebook stock. With the fall in equities, it's a good bet that the stock is worth much less than its previous valuation of $15 billion. Twitter wasn't impressed.

Indeed, Twitter still has lots of momentum and appears to be the next dot-com darling. With its growing user base, there should be opportunities to monetize things, which could help bolster the valuation.

If Twitter really wants to sell out, its best alternative is probably to go to an established player that has a solid stock value and cash in the bank such as a Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) or Google (NASDAQ: GOOG).

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Streetsmart Guide to Short Selling: Techniques the Pros Use to Profit in Any Market. He is also the founder of BizEquity, a valuation website.

Citigroup (NYSE: C) and Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) have reached a temporary cease-fire in the battle to acquire Wachovia Corporation (NYSE: WB). Late Monday, federal officials urged the dueling suitors to lay down their legal weapons and attempt a compromise in hopes of avoiding a protracted standoff in court. According to reports, new discussions between the banks and the Fed could lead to a division of Wachovia's assets between the two sparring suitors.

For those of you just joining this banking soap opera in progress: Citigroup agreed last Monday to acquire Wachovia's banking operations, with a little help from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). However, last Friday, Wells Fargo emerged with a financially superior bid to acquire Wachovia in its entirety, which eventually prompted Citigroup to file suit against its rival.

Today's news has sparked heavy volume on Wachovia's October 5 put option. This contract has seen 22,371 contracts cross the tape today on open interest of 57,273. This could indicate that many speculators are betting that the Wells Fargo bid won't go through -- at least, not in its entirety. That bid priced Wachovia at approximately $7 per share, compared to $1 per share under the terms of the Citigroup deal, according to Bloomberg.

Elizabeth Harrow is an analyst and financial writer in the research department at Schaeffer's Investment Research. She is featured in the video series Schaeffer's Daily Q&A on SchaeffersResearch.com.

On Friday, the board of Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. (NYSE: BUD) met and discussed the $46.3 billion unsolicited bid from rival InBev NV. However, there was nothing announced to its eager shareholders.

But, hey, why speed things up? Might as well keep InBev guessing, right?

And, there's much for the rumor mill to chomp on. For example, Carlos Fernandez said he has resigned from Anheuser's board. He is the CEO of Grupo Modelo, which is half-owned by Anheuser.

One possibility is that Anheuser will buy the rest of Grupo, making it tougher for InBev to pull off its buyout. So, does the resignation mean that Anheuser and Grupo are talking about such an arrangement?

It's really tough to tell. Perhaps Grupo is actually talking to InBev? After all, it looks like Grupo wants to remain independent.

Yet, all this stuff seems more of a sideshow. The fact remains that Anheuser can't ignore InBev and is under lots of pressure to sell out (especially in light of its sluggish operating performance over the past few years).

Actually, Adolphus A. Busch IV sent a letter to Anheuser's board urging negotiation with InBev to get a deal done. He's the uncle of the CEO, August A. Busch IV.

Finally, there is another interesting dynamic: Warren Buffett. His company, Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A), owns 5% of Anheuser's shares. No doubt, it should be interesting to get his views on the matter.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.

Perhaps the credit crunch is showing some improvement? For example, according to a report in the Telegraph, it looks like InBev – the world's no. 2 beer company -- is close to getting $50 billion in financing for a bid for Anheuser-Busch Cos Inc. (NYSE: BUD). Some of the banks include JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM), Santander, BNP Paribas and Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER).

But isn't the Busch family resistant to a bid? In theory, that may be the case. However, it's hard to say "no" to a premium buyout deal. Besides, the beer industry is in the midst of a global consolidation trend. And, with Anheuser-Busch's relatively high cost structure and lackluster global strategy, the future does look murky.

In the meantime, Anheuser-Busch is preparing for a fight. That is, it appears that the firm is getting anti-takeover advice from Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) and Citi (NYSE: C).

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.

Founded in 2000, Kintera Inc. (NASDAQ: KNTA) has built on-demand technologies to help nonprofits with fund-raising. Interestingly enough, the company has never reached a profit. So, it should be no surprise that the stock price was below a buck and that the Nasdaq provided a delisting notice.

Well, things were much brighter this week. Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB), which has an extensive software suite for nonprofits, has agreed to purchase Kintera for $46 million or $1.12 per share. On news of the traction, the company's share price spiked 58%.

For the past year, Kintera has been restructuring operations. For example, the company has reduced its operating expenses by $1 million per quarter.

But, as a part of Blackbaud, there should be even more cost savings, such as with R&D and the salesforce. Keep in mind that there will be no public-company costs for Kintera (which is a big deal).

Something else: Kintera's losses are quite valuable. That is, they represent a $10 million present value for Blackbaud (which can use them to shelter taxes). In other words, this essentially reduces the price tag of the acquisition.

Although, Blackbaud also sees some major strategic benefits. First of all, Kintera helps bolster the fund-raising segment, which looks like a growth market. Next, Blackbaud is transitioning to on-demand software approaches. Finally, the company will pick up 4,000 customers from Kintera.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.

This past week, Wrigley Co. (NYSE: WWY) filed a proxy statement for its $23 billion sale to Mars. And, if you go to page 18, you'll see an account of the transaction -- and how Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS) was a key player.

Actually, it was back in 2006 that Goldman arranged a meeting between Wrigley and Mars. After signing confidentiality agreements, the parties talked about possible business arrangements (although, a buyout was not mentioned -- but, I'm sure, it was something everyone was thinking about, especially Goldman).

However, by August 2007, Mars and Goldman talked about possible strategic options. One suggestion: buy Wrigley. To this end, Goldman arranged a meeting with Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) to explore financing possibilities.

By April 2008, Mars had made an overture to William Wrigley, Jr., to discuss a possible transaction. The result: Mars offered $75 per share.

Of course, the price was not enough. As a result, there were several more bids -- with the final one at $80 per share.

When it comes to M&A, JP Morgan's (NYSE: JPM) Jamie Dimon is a pro. But, when he agreed to purchase the distressed Bear Stearns Cos. (NYSE: BSC), he had to reinvent the playbook. After all, he had only a couple days to evaluate the transaction.

Well, there's an excellent piece on this in the Wall Street Journal [a paid publication]. Basically, Dimon realized that speed was critical -- as well as real-time communications. In a complex deal, things can implode easily.

For example, JP Morgan quickly setup fiber cables to connect its information technology (IT) system with that of Bear Stearns. This was critical to allow for the unloading of portfolio assets, which helped to reduce the overall risk of the deal.

In fact, JP Morgan has an army of advisers and employees that are combing through many documents and computer files. No doubt, there are thousands of reports trying to track the progress. And so far, it looks like things are running smoothly.