By Benjamin Horney

Law360 (April 23, 2020, 3:20 PM EDT) -- The deals rumor mill is often overflowing with transactions that are reportedly close to being inked, but with so many rumors it can be hard to know which ones to stay on top of every week.

Here, Law360 breaks down the deal rumors from the past week that you need to be aware of.

ValueAct Capital Builds More Than $1.1B Nintendo Stake

ValueAct Capital Partners LP has amassed a stake in Nintendo Co. Ltd. worth more than $1.1 billion, and the activist investor sees a bright future ahead of the maker of Super Mario Bros. and other iconic video games, according to a Tuesday report from Reuters. According to the report, which cited a letter seen by the publication, ValueAct believes Nintendo is primed to continue creating new products, both in software and entertainment, that will boost growth at the company going forward. ValueAct built its stake in February and March, according to the report, and the investor now has about 2.6 million shares, or a roughly 2% stake.

Neiman Marcus Inches Closer to Bankruptcy

Neiman Marcus Group Inc. is on the verge of bankruptcy, with Reuters reporting on Sunday that the private equity-backed luxury retailer could file for bankruptcy any day now. According to the report, Neiman Marcus would be the first major U.S. department store chain to hit that mark in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The Dallas-based company is drowning in more than $4 billion worth of debt, the report said, and its business has been hit hard by the virus. The company is negotiating a loan with creditors that could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars, the report noted. Reports that Neiman Marcus might be nearing bankruptcy date back to late March, when it was rumored that the company might soon file. According to that report, Neiman Marcus' struggles can be traced back to its $6 billion leveraged buyout by Ares Management LP and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board in 2013. 

Saudi Aramco Readies Potential Sale of $10B Stake in Pipeline Biz

State-backed oil giant Saudi Aramco is working with JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. as it prepares to possibly sell a $10 billion or more stake in its pipeline business, according to a Thursday report from Bloomberg. According to the report, a formal sale process has yet to begin, and the company could choose to wait until the current market volatility has calmed down.

Saudi Aramco Seeks $10B Loan to Help Fund Deal for PIF Stake

Saudi Aramco has enlisted HSBC Holdings Plc and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. to assist as it seeks a roughly $10 billion loan to help fund its acquisition of a 70% stake in Saudi Basic Industries Corp. from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, according to a Wednesday report from Reuters. The deal, inked last year, is worth around $70 billion. According to the report, HSBC and Sumitomo are coordinating with other banks, the identities of which were not disclosed. 

Goldman Sachs Grabs Dealmaking Executive From Rival Bank

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has poached a major dealmaking executive from Bank of America, according to a Monday report from Reuters. According to the report, Goldman Sachs has hired Diego Fortunati to step into the role of managing director overseeing industrials mergers and acquisitions across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, as the investment banking giant seeks to fortify its industrials team and land more business in the sector, which has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. He'll officially come on board in June, the report said, and part of his job will be convincing clients to tap Goldman Sachs as they seek deals in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. The move comes shortly after Antonio Gatti, previously a major M&A dealmaker at Goldman, left the firm to join private equity firm Investindustrial, the report noted.

Benchmark to Raise $425M Fund Without Help From Prominent Partner

San Francisco-based venture capital firm Benchmark is aiming to bring in $425 million for a new fund that it is raising without help from one of the firm's most influential general partners, according to a Wednesday report from The Wall Street Journal. According to the report, the fund will be Benchmark's tenth, and it will be raised without participation from Bill Gurley. Gurley isn't leaving the firm, the report said, and it wasn't immediately clear why he isn't working on the new fund. Benchmark has previously been an early investor in the likes of Uber Technologies Inc., eBay Inc. and Twitter Inc., the report noted.

Coronavirus Has Malaysia Considering a Merger of Two Airlines

Malaysia Airlines Bhd and AirAsia Group Bhd could merge in an effort to insulate both from extreme economic difficulties resulting from the coronavirus, according to a Reuters report from Friday, April 17. The report cited an interview with Mohamed Azmin Ali, Malaysia's minister of international trade and industry and the government's second-in-command. According to the report, the government is considering different options to assist the country's struggling airline industry, and a merger between the two airlines is one possibility. Ali said that talks about a possible merger of Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia have previously occurred, including last year, before the coronavirus outbreak.

Sinopec Mulls Deal for Stake in Oil Storage Terminal

State-backed energy company China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., known as Sinopec, is holding preliminary discussions about the potential acquisition of a stake in an oil storage terminal partly owned by Singapore's Hin Leong Trading Pte. Ltd., according to a Thursday report from Reuters. According to the report, the deal would provide Hin Leong with "much needed cash," as it owes a total of $3.85 billion to 23 different banks. Hin Leong approached Sinopec earlier this month to see if it would have interest in buying a stake in the Universal Terminal in Singapore, the report noted, which is 41% owned by Hin Leong. The rest of the terminal is owned by PetroChina Co. Ltd. and Macquarie Group Ltd., the report noted.

--Editing by Alanna Weissman.

For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.