Acquisition roundup: AOL – StudioNow, StockTwits – Abnormal Returns, LivePerson – NuConomy

Lots of merger reports are coming in this morning. AOL, in the largest of the three reported deals, has picked up Internet video firm StudioNow for a reported $36.5 million. That’s a pretty good payoff for investors in the Nashville-based startup. Clayton Associates and Claritas Capital had put only $3.5 million into StudioNow.

In addition, AOL confirmed last week’s rumors that CTO Ted Cahall is leaving AOL, and Google/Microsoft alumnus Jeff Raynar has become AOL’s new Head of Technology for Engineering and Products in New York City.

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StockTwits, a sort of Motley Fool 2.0 for sharing investment information, has purchased financial news site Abnormal Returns, and promises to meld the two — plus stock charts startup chart.ly, which StockTwits bought last year — into a real-time financial news hub. Investor info about Abnormal Returns is also hard to come by. It’s presumed to be privately funded on the cheap by founder Tadas Viskanta.

Finally, LivePerson — “an online marketplace for expert advice and information” — has picked up Web analytics startup NuConomy for a reported $3 million. NuConomy, an Israeli-founded firm whose headquarters are — or were — in San Francisco, originally received seed funding from Israeli super-angel Yossi Vardi, followed by $3 million from WPP in early 2008. That makes the purchase pretty much a return of the investments.