Verifone soars after major announcement, Feds okay Bayer/Monsanto deal, McDonald’s plans big expansion

Here’s a look at some of the companies the Yahoo Finance team will be watching for you.

Verifone (PAY) tops our list. The stock is surging over 50%. The jump comes on news that a private equity firm-led group is taking the electronic payment company private in a $3.4B deal. Verifone says the deal to go private is expected to be completed by Q3 this year.

The US government has decided to allow Bayer to acquire Monsanto (MON). The mega-deal is valued at more than $60B, and Monsanto’s stock jumped more than 6% when news of the Justice Department’s decision was announced. The deal will make Bayer the world’s largest supplier of seeds and pesticides for farmers.

McDonald’s (MCD) sees big money and a lot of future sales in Northern Europe. The fast food giant plans to add upwards of 200 restaurants in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland over the next decade. McDonald’s already serves roughly 150 million customers in the Nordic region every year.

Apple (AAPL) says all of its facilities worldwide are now powered with renewable energy. Part of that comes from Apple’s own power plants. The rest is from buying electricity and renewable energy credits from others. Apple is telling suppliers who make the switch to renewable energy they’ll get a “leg-up” in winning future business from the tech giant.