Wyndham rebuffs Choice Hotels; Southwestern surges on M&A talk: 4 big deal reports

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Investing.com — Here is your Pro Recap of 4 hot deal dispatches you may have missed last week: Wyndham Hotels & Resorts declines Choice Hotels’ takeover offer, Southwestern Energy surges on potential Chesapeake Energy acquisition, Jazz Pharmaceuticals explores strategic options, and Novo Nordisk buys a hypertension drug from KBP Biosciences.

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After six months of merger discussions, Choice Hotels International (NYSE:CHH) announced on Tuesday that it made an offer to acquire rival Wyndham Hotels & Resorts (NYSE:WH) for $90 per share in cash and stock — but Wyndham declined the offer.

Choice proposed paying $49.50 in cash and 0.324 shares of Choice common stock for each Wyndham share, implying an approximate equity value of $7.8 billion for Wyndham on a fully diluted basis. When accounting for Wyndham's net debt, the proposed transaction's total value stands at approximately $9.8B.

«Choice's offer is underwhelming, highly conditional, and subject to significant business, regulatory and execution risk,» said Stephen Holmes, chairman of the Wyndham board. «Choice has been unwilling or unable to address our concerns.»

Choice Hotels International shares closed with nearly an 8% loss this week, while Wyndham Hotels & Resorts gained around 9%.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK) initiated talks with Southwestern Energy (NYSE:SWN) regarding a potential acquisition, per a Tuesday report from Reuters, which cited individuals familiar with the situation.

Following this news, Southwestern Energy shares on Tuesday surged more than 8%.

Should this merger go through, the combined entity would surpass EQT (NYSE:EQT) to become the largest natural gas-focused