Finance & Capital Management

New York -- Shoe manufacturer Wolverine Worldwide Inc. announced Tuesday that it has partnered with equity firms Blum Capital Partners and Golden Gate Capital to acquire Payless ShoeSource parent Collective Brands Inc. for about $1.3 billion.

Boca Raton, Fla. -- Office Depot Inc. reported Tuesday that it swung to a profit of $41 million in the first quarter ended March 31, compared with a loss of $15 million in the same period last year.

Sales fell 3.4% to $2.87 billion, missing Wall Street’s expected $2.89 billion in revenue. Same-store sales at the office supply retailer’s North American stores decreased 6%, and total sales for the division dropped 8% to $1.2 billion, impacted by store closures and fewer selling days.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Sears Holdings Corp. revealed in a Monday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that the previously announced spinoff of its Sears’s Outlet and Sears’s Hometown and Hardware stores will now combine the two chains into one separate company.

The move, part of Sears’ initiative to cut expense and regain profits, will result in the newly named Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores Inc. and a public offering that is expected to raise $400 to $500 million for Sears.

NEW YORK and REDMOND, Wash. — Barnes & Noble has formed a partnership with Microsoft that will put Barnes & Noble's college and digital business under a new subsidiary, referred to for now as Newco. According to a press release, Microsoft will make a $300 million investment in Newco at a post-money valuation of $1.7 billion in exchange for an approximately 17.6% equity stake. Barnes & Noble will own approximately 82.4% of the new subsidiary, which will have an ongoing relationship with the company’s retail stores.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Net sales for Ingles Markets experienced a spike during the second quarter and first half of fiscal year 2012, the retailer reported Monday.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Express has named Theo Killion has been appointed to its board of directors as a Class III director.  Killion is CEO and a director of Zale Corp.  

San Jose, Calif. -- Retail clinics and big-name medical centers are poised for dramatic expansion, according to two well-known speakers at the American Telemedicine Association's annual meeting in San Jose this week.

Dallas -- The Food Marketing Institute (FMI) announced that it has entered into a strategic business partnership with TopSource LLC, a sourcing company and wholly owned subsidiary of Topco Associates LLC. FMI said the partnership will provide its members the opportunity to support the foundations of their growing businesses with significant savings related to costs in not-for-resale areas.

A friend of mine recently called to ask my opinion of the “new” Gap. She had just returned from shopping at The Grove, an upmarket mall in Los Angles, and couldn’t get over how “different” the Gap seemed. It wasn’t just the merchandise as much as the overall environment that had struck her. Everything seemed so “fresh,” she said.