Mergers & Acquisitions

New York — Findings released Tuesday by PricewaterhouseCoopers showed that top-performing companies typically have demonstrated strong collaboration between the corner office and the CIO.

According to PwC’s Digital IQ survey, companies with strong, collaborative relationships between the CIO and other c-suite executives are four times as likely to be top-performing companies as those with fragmented relationships.

New York -- J. C. Penney Co boosted its borrowing capacity under a bank credit facility by $100 million to $1.85 billion and expanded an option to borrow more at a later date.  

"As we enter the second year of our transformation, today's announcement reflects the confidence of our banking group in our long-term strategy and further strengthens our liquidity position as we continue to execute our plan," J.C. Penny CFO Ken Hannah said in a statement.

STAMFORD, Conn. -- GE Capital Retail Bank, a consumer lending unit of General Electric Company (GE), has renewed its private label credit card program with JCPenney.

The JCP consumer card program provides credit to millions of consumers who shop at more than 1,100 JCPenney stores in communities across the United States and Puerto Rico, as well as online at JCP.com. 

Dallas -- Corner Bakery Cafe announced plans to open 16 restaurants in six counties in the greater New York City area as part of a recent multi-unit agreement with CBCWSNY. The group of restaurant operators plans to open its first restaurant in 2013 and the remaining sites over the next six years.

Corner Bakery Cafe opened 20 new cafes and signed another 125 cafes in 2012, raising the total to 147 open cafes and 288 cafes under development, as the company moves forward on its goal to double its U.S. footprint by the end of 2015.

MATTHEWS, N.C. — Carolina retailer Harris Teeter may be exploring a sale, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday evening. 

According to the report, Harris Teeter is being advised by JP Morgan. WSJ tabulated Harris Teeter's market value at $1.8 billion for its 200 supermarkets. 

GREENSBORO, N.C. — The board of directors of VF Corp., a global leader in branded lifestyle apparel and footwear, has elected Matthew Shattock as a director.

Shattock is the president and CEO of Beam Inc., one of the world’s leading premium spirits companies. He has led Beam since 2009, first as an operating unit of Fortune Brands and since October 2011 as a standalone public company. 

Stamford, Conn. -- GE Capital Retail Bank, a consumer lending unit of General Electric Company (GE), has renewed its private label credit card program with J.C. Penney Co.

The JCP consumer card program provides credit to millions of consumers who shop at more than 1,100 J.C. Penney stores in communities across the United States and Puerto Rico, as well as online at JCP.com.

HOUSTON — Stage Stores is consolidating its South Hill, Virginia regional operations into its Houston, Texas corporate headquarters, in an effort to increase efficiency, create synergies, reduce expenses and enhance growth.