The markets opened lower with the Dow slipping 2 points to 17,214 as crude oil prices continued to fall. Nasdaq dropped 22 points to 4,858.

On the upside

KLA-Tencor (Nasdaq: KLAC) will be acquired by Lam Research (Nasdaq: LRCX) in a cash and stock deal value at approximately $10.6 billion.

Silver Lake Partners and Thoma Bravo will take SolarWinds (NYSE: SWI) private for a premium of approximately $4.5 billion.

Neogenomics (Nasdaq: NEO) will acquire Clarient in a cash and stock deal valued at approximately $275 million.

On the downside

Synta Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: SNTA) terminated its Phase 3 GALAXY-2 trial of ganetespib and docetaxel to treat advanced lung cancer.

Raymond James downgraded VMware (NYSE: VMW) from an Outperform rating to a Market Perform rating while Sterne Agee downgraded the company from a Buy rating to a Neutral rating and Pacific Crest downgraded the company from an Overweight rating to a Sector Weight rating.

Polaris Industries (NYSE: PII) reported higher third quarter earnings and revenue that topped analyst estimates but the stock price fell.

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of 5 to 4 on the NYSE and by more than 9 to 7 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 lost 4 points to 2,026. Bitcoin slipped $1 to $265.