M&A

December 13, 2011, 7:57 PM UTC

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE: MLM) yesterday launched a $4.8 billion all-stock hostile bid for rival construction company Vulcan Materials (NYSE: VMC).

Apple Inc. is in talks to acquire Anobit Inc., an Israel-based provider of solutions to the NAND flash memory market, according to an Israeli media report. The deal could be worth upwards of $500 million. Anobit has raised over $70 million in VC funding, from firms like Battery Ventures, Intel Capital and Pitango Venture Capital. www.anobit.com

Reata Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Irving Texas has signed an agreement with Abbott Labs (NYSE: ABT) to jointly develop and commercialize Reata’s portfolio of oral antioxidant inflammation modulators. Under terms of the agreement, Abbott will make one-time license payment of $400 million to Reata. This is the second partnership between the two companies. Reata has raised mmore than $180 million in VC funding from firms like CPMG Inc., Cardinal Investment Co., STARTech Early Ventures and Novo AS.www.reatapharma.com

Appirio, a San Mateo, Calif.-based provider of cloud solutions for the enterprise, has acquiredSaaspoint, a European provider of cloud consulting services. No financial terms were disclosed. Appirio shareholders include GGV Capital and Salesforce.com, while Saaspoint had been backed by Enterprise Ireland. www.appirio.com

Get last week’s M&A news