Mergers & Acquisitions

New York -- Barnes & Noble Inc. founder and chairman Leonard Riggio agreed on Wednesday to forgo $29 million from a sale of one of his companies to the book retailer in order to settle a shareholder lawsuit, according to court documents, Reuters reported.

The lawsuit goes back to a 2009 agreement by the chain to buy back Barnes & Noble College Booksellers Inc. for $514 million from Riggio.

Armonk, N.Y. -- IBM announced it has completed its acquisition of Tealeaf Technology, a provider of digital customer experience management and customer behavior analysis solutions.

The acquisition extends IBM’s Smarter Commerce initiative with qualitative analytics software that helps organizations deliver an optimal digital experience to their customers via the web and mobile devices.

Roseville, Calif. -- Revionics, a provider of price optimization systems, announced it has acquired the business and related assets of Retail Optimization, New Haven, Conn., a provider of cloud-based assortment and space optimization systems. Terms were not disclosed.

New York -- A report released Monday by A.T. Kearney showed that Brazil once again first among developing countries for global retail expansion.

A.T. Kearney’s Global Consumer Institute’s 2012 Global Retail Development Index ranks the top 30 developing countries for global retail expansion.

SUNBURY, Pa. — Weis Markets has closed on its purchase of three former Genuardi's stores and is slated to reopen them this weekend.

In advance of these store openings on June 16, located in Conshohocken, Doylestown and East Norristown, Pa., Weis said it will reopen each store's pharmacy Monday at 12 noon to minimize prescription service disruption.

Weis added that it has hired 218 former Genuardi employees and has added 150 positions, which will allow each store to double the number of cashiers it employs and increase front-end service.

New York -- A Monday report by Reuters said that New York City's pension funds have filed a derivative lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. based on reported allegations of bribery in Mexico and a possible cover-up by Wal-Mart officials.
 
The suit, filed in Delaware Chancery Court, alleges that Wal-Mart's officers and board of directors breached their fiduciary duty to both the company and shareholders by failing to properly handle claims of alleged bribery and apparently attempting to cover up details of the issue.

Sunbury, Pa. -- Weis Markets has closed on its purchase of three former Genuardi's stores and is slated to reopen them on June 16.

Ahead of the three openings -- in Conshohocken, Doylestown and East Norristown, Pa. – Weis said it opened each store's pharmacy Monday at noon to minimize prescription service disruption.

 

New York -- Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia said Monday it has named Michael Robinson to the newly created position of VP e-commerce.

Robinson was most recently Anthropologie’s head of e-commerce for Europe and United Kingdom, and was responsible for launching the Anthropologie catalog and website in 1998, as well as introducing the retailer’s loyalty card program.

He has also held managerial and planning positions with Banana Republic and Smith & Hawken.