Fly Intel: Top five weekend stock stories

Catch up on the weekend's top five stories with this list compiled by The Fly: 1. Dunkin' Brands (DNKN), the parent company of Dunkin' and Baskin-Robbins, confirmed that it has held preliminary discussions to be acquired by Inspire Brands. There is no certainty that any agreement will be reached. The company said it will not comment further unless and until a transaction is agreed or discussions are terminated. This follows a news report by the New York Times's Lauren Hirsch saying that Dunkin' Brands was in talks to sell itself to Inspire Brands, in a deal that would take Dunkin' Brands private at a price of $106.50 a share. 2. Blackstone (BX) has struck a deal to buy Simply Self Storage from Brookfield Asset Management (BAM), The Wall Street Journal's Miriam Gottfried reports. The private-equity company's nontraded real-estate investment trust, known as BREIT, is buying the 8M square-foot portfolio of self-storage facilities for about $1.2B. The deal is expected to be announced Monday, the author adds. 3. Sprouts Farmers Market (SFM) was a COVID-19 winner, and then it was a COVID-19 loser, but its earnings report on October 28 could make it a winner again, Teresa Rivas wrote in this week's edition of Barron's. After peaking in the March quarter, Sprouts' same-store sales declined as consumers favored one-stop-shops like Target (TGT) and Walmart (WMT) to reduce the risk of virus exposure, the author noted, adding that its stock has dropped 22% in the past three months. However, Sprouts' earnings could help the stock reverse course, the publication contended. 4. Coca-Cola European Partners (CCEP) announced it has made a non-binding proposal to acquire Coca-Cola Amatil (CCLAY). The Board of Directors of CCEP has made a non-binding offer to acquire 69.2% of the entire existing issued share capital of Coca-Cola Amatil, which is held by shareholders other than Coca-Cola, to be effected by means of a scheme of arrangement; and has entered into a non-binding heads of terms and cooperation letter with Coca-Cola (KO), setting out the terms on which Coca-Cola European Partners proposes to acquire Coca-Cola's 30.8% interest in Coca-Cola Amatil, conditional upon Australian regulatory approvals and the implementation of the scheme of arrangement. Coca-Cola Amatil's Independent Shareholders would receive A$12.75 per share in cash. Coca-Cola would receive A$9.57 per share in cash for part of their shareholding, which comprises 10.8% of Coca-Cola Amatil's shares. Coca-Cola European Partners will work with Coca-Cola to acquire all of Coca-Cola's remaining 20% shareholding in Coca-Cola Amatil, in connection with which Coca-Cola European Partners may satisfy part of the consideration for these Coca-Cola Amatil shares by the issue of Coca-Cola European Partners shares at an agreed conversion ratio. 5. Coca-Cola, NextEra Energy (NEE), Xcel Energy (XEL), WEC Energy (WEC), Eversource Energy (ES), CMS Energy (CMS), Alliant Energy (LNT), Atmos Energy (ATO), and New Jersey Resources (NJR) saw positive mentions in this week's edition of Barron's.