Mergers & Acquisitions

San Jose -- Orchard Supply Hardware Stores Corp. is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. As part of the filing, Orchard Supply has reached an agreement for Lowe’s to purchase acquire the majority of its assets for $205 million in cash, plus the assumption of payables owed to nearly all of Orchard’s supplier partners. Under the terms of the agreement, Lowe’s, serving as “stalking horse bidder,” would acquire no less than 60 of Orchard’s stores, based on further due diligence on the store locations.

ATLANTA — Newell Rubbermaid has appointed Jeremy Liebowitz as the company’s VP of global e-commerce, a newly created position. The company will look to Liebowitz to lead the acceleration of its online revenue growth worldwide.

New York -- Foot Locker has received approval from the Federal Cartel Office in Germany to complete its acquisition of Runners Point Warenhandelsgesellschaft mbH (RPG), initially announced in May 2013. RPG is majority owned by private equity group Hannover Finanz and operates more than 200 specialty athletic retail stores in Germany, Austria, The Netherlands and Switzerland under various banners, as well as an e-commerce site.

The transaction, valued at roughly $94 million, is expected to close early next month.

NEW YORK — Cosmetic brand Clinique has promoted Jean-Christophe Jourde to the newly created position of SVP and GM of North America. Jourde will be responsible for driving sales and market share growth for the brand in the region and will report to Ricardo Quintero, SVP and global GM of market development. 

Dallas -- Cypress Equities Real Estate Investment Management has announced the acquisition of Lloyd Center in Portland, Ore. The enclosed, three-level 1,478,000-sq.-ft. regional shopping center is located near downtown close to the Convention Center, Rose Garden Arena and Memorial Coliseum.

Plans to acquire at least 60 stores from bankrupt Orchard Supply Hardware give Lowe’s an increased presence in California and a new small format with expansion potential.

Lowe’s said early Monday that it had entered into an asset purchase agreement with Orchard, which had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, to acquire the majority of Orchard’s assets for approximately $205 million in cash and assume payables owed to nearly all of Orchard’s supplier partners.

CORTE MADERA, Calif. — Restoration Hardware Holdings has appointed former Williams-Sonoma brand president Richard Harvey as the company's CMO for RH Kitchen and Tableware.

Harvey spent 30 years at Williams-Sonoma, Inc., most recently as president of the Williams-Sonoma brand. In his new role, Harvey will develop a curated collection of kitchen furniture, appliances, lighting, cookware, tools and food.

Brussels, Belgium -- Jean-Pierre Hansen is resigning from the board of directors of The Delhaize Group effective June 30. Hansen, who initially joined in 2011, said the position required more time than he anticipated and he needed to attend to commitments in the energy sector and other unspecified duties.

“I have very much enjoyed working with great colleagues on the Board and wish the company well in its future growth," said Hansen.