Wall Street's Wheelings And Dealings

Last year's influx of mergers and acquisitions looks likely to continue, as January kicked off with several big names buying and selling in an effort to better position themselves. Here's a round of up the latest wheelings and dealings generating buzz on Wall Street.

Roche Holding Looks To Boost Its Cancer Treatment Business

Roche Holding AG has agreed to pay $1.03 billion to gain a 56 percent stake in Foundation Medicine Inc (NASDAQ: FMI), which will give Roche access to the company's genetic diagnostic tests for cancer treatment. Foundation Medicine's ground-breaking research allows doctors to test for specific mutations and match them with treatment options tailored to fit patients' needs. The partnership between the two will allow Roche to collaborate with Foundation Medicine on the development of new drugs that will combat the cancer-causing mutations.

Related Link: Ackman: Allergan Is A Good Merger Arbitrage Play

Shire Puts AbbVie Cash To Use

Shire PLC (ADR) (NASDAQ: SHPG) will acquire NPS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: NPSP) in an all-cash deal worth $5.2 billion. The Irish drug-maker plans to expand its portfolio to include rare disease treatments, something NPS specializes in. In 2014, AbbVie Inc (NYSE: ABBV) tried to acquire Shire, but new rules governing tax-inversion deals caused AbbVie to walk away, leaving Shire with a $1.6 billion break-up fee.

Macquarie And MBK Cash In On C&M

Asia's MBK Partners and Australia's Macquarie Group are planning to sell South Korea's C&M in a deal they believe will bring in 8 to 10 times the company's value. MBK and Macquarie bought their joint 90 percent stake in the cable TV operator back in 2008, but now the two are hoping to fetch up to $2.9 billion when South Korean cable companies bid on C&M, which boasts the largest pay-TV subscriber base in the nation.

Related Link: Yahoo! Cable Acquisition Rumors Denied

Tekmira To Focus On Hepatitis B

Canadian pharmaceutical company Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation (NASDAQ: TKMR) has made an agreement to buy U.S.-based OnCore Biopharma Inc., in an effort to expand its drug portfolio beyond cancer treatment and anti-viral programs. The deal will make OnCore a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tekmira and give Tekmira access to the company's promising hepatitis B treatment methods.

Johnson & Johnson Takes On Alzheimer's

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) signed an exclusive license agreement with AC Immune on Monday. Though few details about the deal have been released, it stipulates that the Swiss company's vaccines designed to fight Alzheimer's disease will be developed through Johnson & Johnson in a deal estimated to be worth around $509 million.