Newell Brands Inc (NWL)

[10nisman]

P&G Takeover?
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aaremWOxJh.Q

June 1 (Bloomberg) -- Trading of bullish Newell Rubbermaid Inc. options surged to the highest in almost three months on speculation the maker of food-storage and home products may be taken over by Procter & Gamble Co.

Almost 14,000 calls to buy the stock changed hands, 10 times the four-week average and 11 times the number of puts, which give the right to sell. The most-active contracts were June $17.50 calls, which rose 60 percent to 40 cents and accounted for more than half of all options volume for Atlanta- based Newell. Those contracts expire June 18.

“There’s an unsubstantiated rumor that Newell may be taken over by Procter & Gamble,” said Patrick Mortimer, director of options trading at Pipeline Trading Systems LLC in New Hope, Pennsylvania. “That could drive the trading in options.”

Procter & Gamble, the Cincinnati-based company that gets half of its revenue from household-care products, agreed last month to acquire closely held Natura Pet Products Inc. Newell Chief Executive Officer Mark Ketchum said in an interview today that the company may expand its cooperation with Avon Products Inc. to developing countries such as China where it doesn’t offer Rubbermaid products and Avon has salespeople. The plan was announced last week at an analyst conference in Atlanta.

Newell’s Share Gains

Newell’s stock had gained 11 percent this year before today. The shares rose as much as 5 percent today before closing unchanged at $16.66. Procter & Gamble, the world’s largest consumer products company, rose 0.1 percent to $61.16. Avon, based in New York, fell 2.4 percent to $25.86.

Rotha Penn, a spokeswoman for Procter & Gamble, said the company doesn’t comment on rumors about acquisitions or divestitures.

“Managing the product portfolio is an ongoing process,” Penn said in an e-mail. “Procter & Gamble management and the board regularly review the portfolio to ensure the businesses are capable of meeting our shareholder value creation expectations.”

David Doolittle, a Newell spokesman, declined to comment.