Mergers & Acquisitions

New York City -- Veteran retailer Leo Kahn, who developed his family-owned wholesale business into the Purity Supreme chain, co-founded Staples, and pioneered selling natural foods in supermarket-sized venues, died on Wednesday in Boston. He was 94.

Walmart acquired a minority interest in Chinese e-commerce company Yihaodian, the company announced Friday morning. Yihaodian was launched in July 2008 and currently offers 75,000 products and next-day delivery on essential items from an existing logistics network in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou.

Irvine, Calif. -- Passco Cos. LLC said it has purchased four CVS stores in sale-leaseback deals.
 
All four stores are newly constructed and recently opened by CVS, typical of the prototype for newer CVS retail/pharmacy stores. These features include drive-thru pharmacies, pick up stations, integration of CVS merchandise plans with interior design, and exterior signage modified to meet local ordinances.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores is buying a minority stake in online company Yihaodian, which sells groceries, consumer electronics, clothing and other items. Terms of the deal and the size of the stake were not disclosed.

The deal will help expand the Wal-Mart’s reach into China, where it has 328 stores (as of Dec. 31, 2010).

ELMWOOD PARK, N.J. — The Craft & Hobby Association (CHA) board of directors has announced the departure of Steve Berger as president and CEO of CHA. The board of directors will immediately begin a search for a new chief executive. No timetable has been set for securing a replacement. In the interim, Tony Lee, VP meetings and expositions, will serve as acting president and CEO.

Cincinnati -- Kroger Co. CEO and chairman David Dillon saw his pay fell again as the chain's sales and profit growth fell below tough targets amid continuing economic instability.

An Associated Press analysis shows Dillon received compensation for 2011 valued at $5.4 million, down 19% from 2009. It is the third straight year in which Dillon's largely performance-based pay fell.

The AP's calculation counts salary, bonuses, perks and stock and options awarded to the executive during the year.
 

Santiago Roces left Walmart with little fanfare or the issuance of a press release last month, which isn’t uncommon for executives at the SVP level at the company the size of Walmart. Nevertheless, the timing of the departure certainly seems curious given that Roces was the guy with the words “small format” in his title and Walmart is about to open the first of its Walmart Express stores and rebrand Neighborhood Market as Walmart Market.

Bryn Mawr, Pa. -- WP Realty and Angelo, Gordon & Co. announced the acquisition of the Shaw’s portfolio, consisting of seven Shaw’s-anchored shopping centers and one free-standing Hannaford Bros. located throughout Massachusetts, Maine and Rhode Island.

The portfolio totals 659,143 sq. ft, is 97% leased and contains a mix of national, regional and local tenants. Shaw’s occupies 419,098 sq. ft. across the portfolio, Hannaford Bros. occupies 45,882 sq. ft., Staples 23,942 sq. ft., among others.