Mergers & acquisitions

Cadence Design Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CDNS) has agreed to acquire Tensilica Inc., a Santa Clara, Calif.–based provider of dataplane processing IP, for approximately $380 million in cash. Tensilica had raised over $90 million in VC funding from DoCoMo Capital, Altera Corp., Cisco Systems, Conexant Systems, Fujitsu Ltd., Matsushita Electric Industries, NEC, Foundation Capital, Meritech Capital Partners, Oak Investment Partners and Worldview Technology Partners. www.tensilica.com

Avito Holding AB, operator of a Russian online classifieds website, has agreed to merge with two Russian online classifieds websites -- Slando.ru and OLX.ru – owned by South Africa's Naspers (JSE: NPN). As part of the deal, Avito also has secured a $50 million cash investment from Naspers. www.naspers.co.za

Fortum (Helsinki: FOR1V), a state-controlled Finnish utility, has hired Citigroup and Danske Bank to explore a sale of its energy distribution assets, according to Reuters. The deal could be worth around €5 billion. www.fortum.com

LinkedIn (Nasdaq: LNKD) has agreed to buy news-reading app Pulse for between $50 million and $100 million, according to All Things D. Pulse has raised around $10 million in VC funding from e.Ventures, Greycroft Partners, Harrison Metal Capital, Lerer Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mayfield Fund, New Enterprise Associates and Redpoint Ventures. www.linkedin.com

Madison Dearborn Partners has hired Barclays and BoA Merrill Lynch to find a buyer for scented candle retailer Yankee Candle, according to Reuters. Madison Dearborn acquired the company in 2006 for $1.6 billion. www.yankeecandle.com

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