Prospect Capital Agrees to Acquire Patriot Capital for $197 Million, or 54% of Equity Book Value

Prospect Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:PSEC ) ("Prospect") announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Patriot Capital Funding, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCAP ) ("Patriot").

Prospect is acquiring Patriot for $197 million, comprised of (a) cash to repay all Patriot debt, anticipated to be $110.5 million when the acquisition closes, plus (b) Prospect shares exchanged at a ratio of approximately 0.3992 Prospect shares for each Patriot share, or 8,616,467 Prospect shares for 21,584,251 Patriot shares, with such exchange ratio decreased by any tax distributions Patriot may declare before closing.

The acquisition, unanimously approved by both of Prospect's and Patriot's Board of Directors, is expected to close in the next 60 days.

First Niagara to Acquire Harleysville National Corporation, With $5.6 Billion in Assets and 83 Branches in the Philadelphia & Lehigh Valley Areas

The boards of directors of First Niagara Financial Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: FNFG) and Harleysville National Corporation (Nasdaq: HNBC) announced that First Niagara has agreed to acquire the Philadelphia-area financial services company in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $237 million or $5.50 per share.

The acquisition of the Harleysville-headquartered bank will provide First Niagara with $5.6 billion in assets including, $3.6 billion in loans and $4.1 billion in deposits in 83 bank branches across nine Eastern Pennsylvania counties. The parent company of Harleysville National Bank also operates East Penn Bank, Millennium Wealth Management and Cornerstone Companies.

Tower Group, Inc. to Acquire Specialty Underwriters' Alliance, Inc.

Tower Group, Inc. (“Tower”; NASDAQ: TWGP) and Specialty Underwriters' Alliance, Inc. (“SUA”; NASDAQ: SUAI) have announced today that they have entered into a definitive agreement for the acquisition of SUA by Tower in a transaction valued at approximately $107 million. Under the terms of that agreement, SUA shareholders would receive Tower common stock equal to $6.72 per SUA share based on Friday’s closing stock price for Tower of $24.00.

Nelnet Receives Department of Education Servicing Contract

Nelnet (NYSE: NNI) announced today it has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Department of Education (Department) to service federal student loans. Servicing volume will initially be allocated by the Department to servicers awarded a contract; however, performance factors such as customer satisfaction levels and default rates will determine volume allocations over time.

"Nelnet is extremely pleased to have this opportunity," said Jeff Noordhoek, Nelnet President. "We look forward to collaborating closely with the Department to serve students, families, and schools."