Mergers & Acquisitions

NEW YORK — Gilt Groupe announced that it has named Jason Goldberger as general manager of Gilt Home. In this role, Goldberger will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of the home business, including business strategy, merchandise and site development. Goldberger will report to Susan Lyne, chairman of Gilt Groupe.

London -- U.K. mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse Group PLC reported Tuesday that its loss for its Best Buy U.K. joint venture widened to $102 million in the year to March 31, compared with a loss of $34 million in the prior year. CEO Roger Taylor has warned analysts to expect further losses of between $82 million and $98 million this year.

PLANO, Texas — Things just got a whole lot more interesting in the mid-tier department store space now that JCPenney has hired former Apple executive Ron Johnson to be its CEO. Johnson is a former Target merchandising executive who for the past 11 years oversaw the growth of Apple’s wildly successful and widely heralded retail operation.

RYE, N.Y. — Jarden Corp., a manufacturer of a variety of branded consumer products, announced that James Lillie was named CEO effective immediately.  Martin Franklin, formerly chairman and CEO of Jarden Corp., will serve as executive chairman, overseeing corporate strategy, including growth initiatives, corporate culture and philosophy.

New York City -- Ron Johnson, credited with building Apple’s retail empire, is leaving the high-tech company to become CEO of J.C. Penney Co.

Johnson, who served as senior VP of retail for Apple, will assume the chief executive role on Nov. 1. He will report to current CEO Myron (Mike) Ullman, III, who will become executive chairman. Johnson will also join the company's board, effective Aug. 1.

Johannesburg, South Africa -- A Tuesday report by Bloomberg said that South Africa’s Economic Development Ministry made an “aggressive intervention” in Wal-Mart Stores’ bid to buy a stake in Massmart Holdings Ltd.

South Africa’s Trade, Economic Development and Agriculture Ministries made a joint bid to the Competition Tribunal to force Wal-Mart to restrict imports if it buys a controlling stake in Johannesburg-based Massmart, concerned about job losses.

New York City -- Apparel giant VF Corp., whose brands include Wrangler, The North Face, and Nautica, said it has agreed to buy Timberland Co. for approximately $2 billion. The deal, expected to close in the third quarter, values Timberland at $43 a share, a 43% premium to Friday's closing price of $29.99 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Laval, Quebec -- Alimentation Couche-Tard, parent of Circle K Stores, has signed an agreement to acquire up to 322 sites, plus an additional 65 reseller contracts, in Southern California, from ExxonMobil Corp. The purchase price was not disclosed.

“These stores are high volume, high impact locations,” Tim Tourek, Couche-Tard’s VP of operations for the west coast division, said in a statement. “They would significantly strengthen our overall footprint in this important market.”