Here’s what’s hot in the market today: Real estate firm Excel Trust rose following a public offering, while pharmaceuticals Aegerion and Lannett both dipped. Southern Union rose on an acquisition proposal from Williams Companies. SuccessFactors continued its slide down.
Excel Trust (NYSE: EXL) was up more than 2% to top $11 on almost 26 times normal trading volume. The real estate firm announced the pricing of 12.5 million shares of common stock at $10.94 yesterday. EXL said it would use the net proceeds of about $131 million to pay off debt and buy The Promenade.
Southern Union (NYSE: SUG) accepted an acquisition bid from Williams Companies (NYSE: WMB) on Thursday. Williams would pay $39 per share in cash, or nearly $4.9 billion, for Southern Union. SUG shares went up nearly 16%, trading just below $40. The Williams deal shuts out Energy Transfer Equity which had been working to buy Southern.
Lannett Company (AMEX: LCI), a pharmaceutical company specializing in prescribed generic medicines, dropped more than 3% to trade around $5.20. The FDA announced that it had revised the Prescription Drug User Free Act goal date for Lannett’s new drug application for an orally used morphine sulfate. The PDUFA allows the FDA to collect fees from users of new drugs to speed the approval process.
Aegerion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: AEGR) fell more than 3% after announcing the pricing of more than 4 million shares of common stock at $15.50. Traders this morning sold off AEGR to a little above $15. Aegerion specializes in the treatment of genetic cholesterol.
SuccessFactors (NASDAQ: SFSF), the cloud-based business software solutions company, was down more than 16% to a little bit above $27 on more than 5 million shares. This drop continues a period of volatility for SuccessFactors with a number of commentators suggesting there is takeover interest in firm. SmarTrend noted a downtrend in the company this week.
As of this writing, Anthony John Agnello did not own a position in any of the stocks named here. Follow him on Twitter at @ajohnagnello and become a fan of InvestorPlace on Facebook.
