International Business

Washington, D.C. -- Real estate brokerage house Cassidy Turley has entered into an agreement with an affiliate of DTZ Investment Holdings to be acquired for an undisclosed sum. The buyer group is comprised of TPG, PAG Asia Capital and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, which is acquiring DTZ and Cassidy Turley, then combining the two into one global company with revenues of more than $2.9 billion and more than 28,200 total employees.

Both acquisitions – of DTZ and of Cassidy Turley – are expected to be completed prior to year-end 2014.

The Clorox Company has promoted Nick Vlahos, currently SVP and chief customer officer, to EVP and chief operating officer of household, lifestyle and core global functions, a position previously held by retiring EVP-COO George Roeth.

In this role, Vlahos will have responsibility for the charcoal, Glad, cat litter, food, Brita and Burt's Bees business operating units. He will also have responsibility for the company's marketing, sales, product supply and research and development functions.

YCD Multimedia, a provider of professional digital signage software solutions, has promoted Sam Losar, currently its president of US operations, to CEO.
 
Assuming CEO responsibility from company co-founder Noam Levavi, Losar will be trusted with continuing to expand the growth he achieved in the Americas to its business operations in Europe and Asia.

Noam Levavi co-founded the company in 1999 in Israel and led it for more than a decade.

PayPal is further expanding its relationship with payment service provider BitPay, which specializes in e-commerce, B2B and enterprise solutions for the bitcoin digital currency. The first joint project is an integration with PayPal’s Payments Hub, which is PayPal’s alternative payment platform for digital goods.
 

Washington, D.C. -- The Washington, DC-based brokerage Cassidy Turley agreed to sell 100% of its equity interests to an affiliate of DTZ Investment Holdings, which is backed by a consortium of investors.

The deal is expected to fully close on Dec. 31, after the consortium acquires DTZ around Oct. 31

Alpharetta, Ga. - McAlister's Deli has signed an agreement with existing franchise group Southern Deli Holdings LLC to open 10 additional locations throughout North and South Carolina, Colorado and Wyoming, with three locations slated to open in late 2014. In addition, the franchise group recently acquired seven existing locations in St. Louis.

The new development commitments will result in two new restaurants per year during the next five years.

King of Prussia, Pa. – Online retailers are prioritizing immediate investments in customer-facing tactics such as price, marketing and customer service over strategic infrastructure for the 2014 holiday season. According to the 2014 Holiday Retail Audit, a U.S. survey of more than 1,000 ecommerce and marketing professionals from retailers with revenues of $5 million to $250 million conducted by EBay Enterprise, retailers identified a renewed focus in marketing efforts.

Dublin, Calif. – DD’s Discounts, a division of Ross Stores Inc., will open a new store in Orlando on Sept. 27. The store is located in the Century Plaza. 

Including this new location, DD’s Discounts will operate approximately 150 locations in 13 states and is on schedule to complete its expansion plan to open approximately 20 locations in 2014. Together, Ross Dress for Less and DD’s Discounts currently operate more than 1,300 off-price apparel and home fashion stores in 33 states, the District of Columbia and Guam.

The nation’s largest automotive retailer has entered some rarified retailing air after reporting its 33rd consecutive quarter of double digit profit growth during the fourth quarter ended August 30.

The operator of 5,391 stores in the U.S., Mexico and Brazil said its fourth quarter profit increased 7.4% to $373.7 million while earnings per share increased 15.6% to $11.28, compared to prior year profits of $371.2 million, or $9.76 a share.

New York – Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. on Friday closed its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange with its shares up 38% from its I.P.O., closing at $93.89.

The stock opened for trade on Friday at $92.70 shortly, a 36% jump above its initial public offering price of $68 a share. More than 100 million shares changed hands in composite trading in the first 10 minutes of trading.