Total SA, a French energy company, has acquired a 25% stake in a Utica shale play from Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE:CHK). The deal is valued at upwards of $2.33 billion, including a $700 million upfront cash payment. www.total.com
Pioneer Drilling Co. (NYSE Amex: PDC) has acquired Go-Coil LLC, a Maurice, La.-based provider of coiled tubing services to exploration and production companies. The deal was valued at $110 million in cash. www.gocoil.com
Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE: RF) has ended talks to sell its Morgan Keegan unit to Stifel Financial, according to Bloomberg.
Sportcraft, a maker of recreational sports gear like pool tables, has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection. Sportcraft is owned by owned by private equity firm Wasserstein & Co. www.sportcraft.com
Virgin Money has completed its acquisition of Northern Rock, a bank nationalized by the British government three years ago, for up to £1.03 billion (including earn-outs). This represented a loss for UK taxpayers, who injected £1.4 billion into Northern Rock.
Goldman Sachs Capital Partners is putting Alliance Films up for sale, according to the FT. GS Capital Partners owns around a two-thirds stake in the Canadian film financier and distributor, while Investissement Québec owns the remainder. Bank of Montreal is managing the process.
Internap Network Services Corp. (Nasdaq: INAP), has acquired Voxel Holdings Inc., a New York-based provider of scalable hosting and cloud services for the enterprise. The deal is valued at around $30 million in cash, plus up to $5 million in earn-outs. Voxel had raised over $5 million in VC funding led by Seaport Capital.