Mergers & Acquisitions

About a year and a half ago, I wrote the following about Sears in an article that appeared in this space: “the company has been run less like a retail operation and more like a REIT for many years now.”

New York - Ryan Guheen has joined Brixmor Property Group as senior VP, redevelopment & strategic leasing. Guheen is based in New York and will play a major role in the company’s Raising the Bar initiative.

Raising the Bar involves upgrading the merchandise mix at its shopping centers with best-in-class anchors to drive higher sales, traffic and small shop leasing, while elevating center appeal to improve rent levels and net operating income growth.

Cupertino, Calif. – Apple Inc. is reportedly holding discussions with Alibaba Holding Group Inc. and several Chinese banks to launch Apple Pay mobile payment in China. According to the Xinhua official Chinese news agency, Apple CEO Tim Cook said he is “bullish” on Apple Pay in China and thinks it could gain traction more quickly in China than it has in the U.S. since its September 2014 launch.

Dallas - Corner Bakery Cafe is focusing franchising efforts in the Southeastern markets of Birmingham; Charleston; Charlotte; Columbus; Jackson; New Orleans; Raleigh; and Tampa. Corner Bakery Cafe is looking for best-in-class franchise operators who have relevant multi-unit restaurant/retail experience in the market to be developed.

In targeting the Southeast region, Corner Bakery Cafe, which has more than 390 locations in development commitments, plans to strengthen its presence.
 

Brussels, Belgium – Belgian grocery retailer Delhaize Group and Dutch grocery retailer Ahold N.V. have confirmed they are engaged in preliminary discussions about a possible merger that could create one of the largest supermarket operators in the U.S. But the two companies said the talks may not result in any deal.

It’s been a month since the announcement of Hal Lawton’s move from Home Depot to eBay, where he will head up eBay North America.

CVS Health’s MinuteClinic has surpassed 25 million patient visits since the nation's first retail clinic opened in 2000.

New York -- Commercial real estate services firm DTZ, which is backed by private-equity firm TPG, has entered into a deal to acquire rival Cushman & Wakefield Inc. for $2 billion.

The combined company will have 43,000 employees, annual revenues of more than $5.5 billion and manage more than 4 billion square feet of real estate globally.  It will operate under the Cushman & Wakefield name.

Chicago -- JLL is getting a big boost to its retail business by acquiring Wilson Retail Group, an independent retail brokerage and capital markets firm in Southern California.

The transaction will enable JLL, the nation’s largest third-party retail property manager, to provide a broader range of brokerage and investment sales services to retailers and investors in a core urban gateway. The transaction closed for an undisclosed sum.

Toronto - Lowe's Canada has reached an agreement to acquire the leases of 13 former Target Canada locations and to purchase Target's distribution center in Milton, Ontario, for a total purchase price of about $125 million. This acquisition came as part of a real estate auction following Target's decision to cease operations in Canada.