Finance & Capital Management

Framingham, Mass. -- Staples Advantage, the business-to-business division of Staples, announced that its Print Solutions business has acquired PRINTSouth Corp. (operating as “Miami Systems”), a leading national manufacturer of business forms. Customers of Staples Print Solutions and Miami Systems will benefit from expanded product and service offerings, improved distribution capabilities and shared best practices, Staples reported.

Washington, D.C. -- The National Retail Federation has announced its support of a tentative bipartisan agreement that would temporarily extend Bush-era tax cuts for all taxpayers regardless of income in return for extending unemployment benefits.

Washington, D.C. -- The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide whether to certify the largest class-action employment discrimination lawsuit in U.S. history, a long-standing dispute involving Wal-Mart Stores and alleged gender bias in pay and promotions.

Palo Alto, Calif. -- HP Enterprise Services Monday announced Tops Friendly Markets, the New York-based supermarket chain with stores in New York and Pennsylvania, has signed a seven-year applications and infrastructure technology services contract valued in excess of $80 million that gives the retailer flexibility to transform its business processes to drive growth.

Goodlettsville, Tenn. -- Dollar General Corp. on Monday lifted its earnings outlook for the year as fiscal third-quarter profit jumped 69% on continued growth in sales and margins.

The company reported earnings of $128.1 million in the latest quarter, compared with $75.6 million a year earlier. Net sales for the quarter ended Oct. 29 rose 10% to $3.22 billion and same-store sales increased 4.2%.

New York City -- Build-A-Bear is looking for a buyer and has approached private-equity firms, according to three people with knowledge of the matter, Bloomberg reported.

Barclays Capital is advising the company, the report said. The St. Louis-based chain, founded by Maxine Clark, opened its first store in 1997.

New York City -- Activist investor Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management raised its stake in Borders Group from 31.5% to 37.3% and is prepared to finance an offer by Borders to buy larger rival Barnes & Noble, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Monday.

According to the statement, Ackman is prepared to finance an offer by Borders to buy all of Barnes & Noble’s stock in an all-cash transaction valued at $16 per share, which would amount to about $960 million, based on the shares outstanding.

By Steve Williams,[email protected]