M&A

Nestle is in talks to acquire Russian juice and babyfood company Progress, according to Reuters. Rival bidders have included Heinz and Danone.

SAP AG has acquired Right Hemisphere Inc., a San Ramon, Calif.-based maker of enterprise graphics software. No financial terms were disclosed. Right Hemisphere had raised VC funding from such firms as SAP Ventures, Munich Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital and Sutter Hill Ventures. www.sap.com

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8

PerkinElmer Inc. (NYSE: PKI) has agreed to acquire Caliper Life Sciences Inc. (Nasdaq: CALP) for $600 million in cash, or $10.50 per share (42% premium to yesterday’s closing price).

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) has acquired Paladyne Systems, a provider of solutions to help investment managers manage managing multiple prime broker relationships, for $76.5 million.www.paladynesys.com

GNC (NYSE: GNC), a Pittsburgh-based nutritional products retailer that went public earlier this year, has filed for a secondary public offering of up to 23 million Class A common shares. The company’s stock closed trading on Tuesday at $23.45 a piece. Selling shareholders include Ares Management (8.2 million shares) and Ontario Teachers Pension Plan (10 million shares). www.gnc.com

Hitachi Data Systems Corp. has acquired BlueArc, a San Jose, Calif.-based provider of unified network storage solutions. No financial terms were disclosed, but a source puts the price-tag at around $600 million in cash. BlueArc had been in registration for a $100 million IPO, and raised around $190 million in VC funding from firms like Meritech Capital Partners (23.37% pre-IPO stake), Crosslink Capital (14.8%), Investor Growth Capital (10.95%) and Morganthaler Ventures (9.45%). www.bluearc.com

Nestle Health Science has completed its previously-announced acquisition of Prometheus Laboratories Inc., a San Diego-based drug and diagnostics company that has simultaneously withdrawn registration for a $100 million IPO. Prometheus had  raised around $73 million in VC funding from DLJ Merchant Banking Partners (21.4% stake), Split Rock Partners (17.4%), New Leaf Ventures (12.5%), Apax Partners (11%), Wachovia Capital Partners (11%) and Brentwood Venture Capital (7.5%).www.prometheuslabs.com

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7

International Paper Co. (NYSE: IP) has agreed to acquire rival Temple Inland Inc. (NYSE: TIN) for $3.7 billion, or $32 per share. This represents a 5% premium from International Paper’s previously offer.

Encana Corp. (NYSE: ECA) has agreed to sell a portion of its natural gas midstream assets in Colorado to an undisclosed private midstream company for approximately $590 million. www.encana.com

Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL) has agreed to acquire Multi-Chem Group LLC, a San Angelo, Texas-based maker of production chemicals. No financial terms were disclosed. www.halliburton.com

CVC Asia Pacific has hired Mizuho Securities to help it sell show repair company Minit Asia Pacific Co., according to Basis Point.

Pacific Equity Partners is considering a sale process for New Zealand snack food company Griffin’s Foods, according to Reuters. The deal could be valued at upwards of US$750 million (including debt).

The Riverside Company is looking to sell Crisis Prevention Institute, a provider of workplace training on how to handle hostile behavior, according to Reuters. Harris Williams is managing the process.www.crisisprevention.com

New Mountain Capital has sold its controlling interest in Iron Bow Technologies to company management, while retaining a minority interest. Iron Bow is a Chantilly, Va.-based IT solutions provider and reseller to both government and commercial clients. It has annual revenue of around $800 million.www.ironbow.com

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6

Sunoco Inc. (NYSE: SUN) announced that it plans to exit its refining business, and has begun to sell its refineries located in Philadelphia and Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania. www.sunoco.com

Shaw Group has agreed to sell its 20% stake in nuclear power plant company Westinghouse Electric Co. back to Toshiba Corp. Shaw had acquired the position back in 2006, with Toshiba purchasing a 77% interest.

Dell Inc. and Baidu today announced plans to jointly develop mobile phones and tablet computers, with a focus on the Chinese market. www.dell.com

RPX Inc. (Nasdaq: RPXC), a San Francisco-based provider of a subscription-based patent risk management solution, has filed for a  secondary offering of up to 6.9 million common shares. The company went public this past May, and its shares closed trading last Friday at $26.08 each. No selling shareholders were identified, but insiders include Index Ventures, Charles River Ventures and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. www.rpxcorp.com

Go here for last week’s M&A deals