Finance & Capital Management

Cheshunt, U.K. – Philip Clarke, CEO of leading U.K. grocery and general merchandise retailer Tesco plc is publicly resisting calls for his resignation following a 6% decline in annual profits and 3% quarterly drop in U.K. same-store sales. Tesco has reported falling profits for two consecutive years following 20 years of continual profit growth.

New York -- Sycamore Partners announced that it has reorganized the remaining businesses of The Jones Group into four independent operating companies: the Nine West Group, a jeanswear company (which will be named later), Jones New York, and the Kasper Group. Each will operate as an independent company led by its own management team. In line with the new decentralized structure, Wesley R. Card will step down as CEO and John T. McClain will step down as CFO of The Jones Group

Pleasanton, Calif. - Safeway Inc. has completed the distribution to its stockholders of 37.8 million shares of Class B common stock of Blackhawk Networks Holdings Inc. owned by Safeway. After the completion of the distribution, Safeway no longer owns any shares of Class B common stock of Blackhawk.

Bauer Performance Sports, a leading designer and manufacturer of high performance sports equipment and apparel, has completed the acquisition of the Easton Baseball/Softball business from Easton-Bell Sports.

Under the terms of the asset purchase agreement, BPS acquired Easton Baseball/Softball for a total all-cash consideration valued at $330 million, plus a working capital adjustment and fees. BPS expects the acquisition to be accretive to adjusted earnings per share in the first year of ownership.

City of Commerce, Calif. – 99 Cents Only Stores LLC reported a widening net loss in an abbreviated 10-month fiscal 2014 which was shortened from the Saturday closest to the end of March to the Friday closest to the end of January. Net loss grew to $12.48 million from $8.9 million.

Total net sales were $1.53 billion, down 8% from $1.66 billion. Same-store sales rose 3.7%.

Pacific World Cosmetics has tapped Neutrogena executive Jim Colleran to serve as its new CEO. Colleran will lead all efforts for the corporation’s multiple beauty and health brands, which include SensatioNail, Nailene, Trim, Dr. G’s and Fing’rs.

Colleran succeeds Joe Fracassi, who has left to pursue other opportunities.

Columbus, Ohio -- In a move to establish a base in Canada, DSW Inc. has entered into an agreement to buy an approximate 44% stake in Canadian footwear retailer Town Shoes. The transaction, expected to close in May, is valued at approximately $62 million. Under the agreement, DSW will have the right to purchase the rest of Town Shoes after four years.

Extreme weather hurt Hhgregg’s sales performance in the fourth quarter ended March 31. During the quarter the company also exited the contract-based mobile phone business.

Net sales are estimated to be $538.3 million, a decrease of approximately 9.9% as compared to net sales of $597.6 million reported for the fourth fiscal quarter of 2013. Fourth fiscal quarter comparable store sales are estimated to have decreased approximately 9.9%.