Benzinga'a M&A Chatter for Friday July 27, 2012

The following are the M&A deals, rumors and chatter circulating on Wall Street for Friday July 27, 2012:

AuthenTec to be Acquired by Apple for $8/Share

The Deal:
AuthenTec (NASDAQ: AUTH) disclosed in a 8-K filing Friday that it has entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger with Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Bryce Acquisition Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Apple. The Merger Agreement was unanimously approved by the Company's Board of Directors.

At the effective time of the Merger, each share of Company common stock issued and outstanding immediately prior to the effective time (other than shares (i) held by the Company in treasury, (ii) owned directly or indirectly, by any of the Company's wholly owned subsidiaries, Parent, or Merger Sub or any other direct or indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Parent, or (iii) held by stockholders who have perfected and not withdrawn a demand for appraisal rights under Delaware law) will be automatically cancelled and converted into the right to receive $8.00 in cash, without interest.

There was chatter later on Friday of a possible higher competing bid, sending shares above the $8.00 Apple buyout price.

AuthenTec closed at $8.42 Friday, a gain of 66.07% on 17 times average volume.

Hearing Chatter Seagate to Acquire OCZ Technology

The Rumor:
Renewed reports surfaced on Friday of a Seagate Technology (NASDAQ: STX) takeover of OCZ Technology (NASDAQ: OCZ). On July 19, Fudzilla reported that the hard drive maker was looking into an acquisition of OCZ.

On Friday, tech blog Bright Side Of News reported their sources said the "deal is done". Seagate reportedly could make the announcement when it reports its Q4 earnings on Monday July 30, after the close.

A spokesperson for Seagate Technology would not comment on the rumor. An OCZ spokesperson was not available.

OCZ Technology closed at $7.08 Friday, a gain of 30.15% on 5 times average volume, but soared as high as $8.60 after-hours.

Hearing Chatter National Bank of Greece to be Acquired

The Rumor:
National Bank of Greece (NYSE: NBG) was the subject of takeover chatter on Friday. One of the names tied to a possible buyout is Wilbur Ross, who was part of a group of investors who took a 34.9% stake in the Bank of Ireland one year ago.

A spokesperson for Mr. Ross declined comment on the rumor.

National Bank of Greece closed at $1.59 Friday, a gain of 13.57% on slightly more than average volume.

Apple Considering Stake in Twitter

The Rumor:
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) is considering a stake in privately-held Twitter, according to a New York Times report on Friday. Other sources denied negotiations between the two companies were underway.

An Apple investment in Twitter would reportedly give the social networking company a value of more than $10 billion.

Apple closed at $585.16 Friday, a gain of 1.79% on average volume.