Mergers & Acquisitions

As the new year begins, it’s not looking very good for the ailing Limited Stores.   Reports are coming in from around the country of Limited store closings, The Columbus Dispatch reported. In Florida, some stores closed after business hours on Christmas Eve.  

Los Angeles-based Nasty Gal, which filed for bankruptcy protection in November, may soon have a British owner.   Boohoo.com is bidding $20 million (£16.3 million) for the brand and its customer databases as the “stalking horse” candidate. Based in Manchester, England, Boohoo specializes in fast-fashion and targets teens and young women, the same audience as Nasty Gal.      

Sears Holdings’ store portfolio continues to shrink.   The struggling retailer told employees on Tuesday that it will close 30 Sears and Kmart stores in early 2017, reported Business Insider.  

Fred’s Inc. is playing defense.   The Memphis-based retailer on Tuesday adopted a shareholder rights plan, or “poison pill,” less than a week after news surfaced that an activist investor had amassed a big stake in the company. It also comes approximately one week after Fred’s announced it had agreed to purchase 865 divested Rite Aid stores as part of the expected Walgreens Boots Alliance-Rite Aid merger. The acquisition would more than double Fred’s store count.   

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission will rule on the Walgreens Boots Alliance-Rite Aid merger before the Trump Administration takes office on Jan. 20, according to the New York Post. The newspaper added approval of the transaction is “not guaranteed.”   “It is most likely [FTC] Chairwoman Edith Ramirez addresses it before she leaves,” a source close to the situation told the news outlet, and not leave it to a Republican-led FTC.  

The comeback of downtown Detroit, led by the expansive District Detroit project under construction, was advanced this week with the opening of The Scott at Brush Park. The upscale, mixed-use development of Broder & Sachse Real Estate and Sachse Construction is located about eight blocks north of District Detroit on Woodward Avenue.   

From start to finish, many of this year’s biggest retail stories involved mergers and acquisitions as the industry continues to remake itself in a digital age. Here’s a look back at 10 stories that caused big buzz — and were the most viewed  by readers on Chainstoreage.com.

Walgreens Boots Alliance’s acquisition of Rite Aid took a big step forward with announcement of the divestiture of 865 Rite Aid stores to Fred’s Pharmacy for $950 million.