Finance & Capital Management

New York -- Barbara Turf, 71,  former CEO of Crate and Barrel, died July 12, at Evanston Hospital, of pancreatic cancer, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Turf was named CEO in 2008, after Crate & Barrel founder and longtime chief executive Gordon Segal retired. She joined Crate and Barrel as a part-time saleswoman in 1967, moving to its corporate headquarters in 1974. Turf retired as CEO in 2012 and joined the company's board of directors, the company said in a statement.

Dr. Ashish K. Khandpur is 3M’s new SVP of research and development and chief technology officer, a role that carries high innovation expectations at a company with a reputation for game-changing product development.

Woonsocket, R.I. — CVS Caremark said Monday that it has agreed to buy the assets of Miami-based Navarro Discount Pharmacy, the largest Hispanic-owned drug store chain in the U.S. The transaction includes Navarro's 33 retail drugstore locations and Navarro Health Services, a specialty pharmacy serving patients with complex or chronic diseases.

Dallas -- X Team International partner Venture Commercial Real Estate has completed leases for two LA Fitness locations in Austin and McKinney, Texas.
 
"As LA Fitness continues to expand its footprint into North and Central Texas, our focus remains on identifying prime locations that will both meet the club's needs and generate increased foot traffic," said Venture Commercial Partner John Zikos.   
    

Union, N.J. - Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. intends to offer, subject to market and other conditions, senior unsecured notes due 2024, senior unsecured notes due 2034 and senior unsecured notes due 2044 under a shelf registration on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Bed Bath & Beyond intends to use the proceeds from this offering for share repurchases of its common stock and for general corporate purposes.

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and Wells Fargo Securities LLC are acting as joint book-running managers.

First Data Corporation reported solid June spending growth in a number of sectors in its First Data SpendTrend analysis for May 31, 2014 through June 30, 2014, compared to June 1, 2013 through July 1, 2013.

SpendTrend tracks same-store point-of-sale data by credit, signature debit, PIN debit, EBT, closed-loop prepaid cards and checks from nearly 4 million merchant locations serviced by First Data.

Atlanta -- Consumer spending slowed in June but remained positive on a year-over-year basis with a growth of 3%, according to First Data SpendTrend analysis, which tracks same-store point-of-sale data by credit, signature debit, PIN debit, EBT, closed-loop prepaid cards and checks from nearly four million merchant locations serviced by First Data.

New York -- Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba increased its valuation to $130 billion less than a month before its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange.

The new figure is approximately $13 billion more than the company valued itself at in its original filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission in June.

Alibaba is expected to raise more than $20 billion, which would make it one of the largest offerings ever.