Mergers & Acquisitions

Fort Worth, Texas – In what may be a tale of survival to rival the PT 109 ordeal of John F. Kennedy, RadioShack Corp. will exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy with some 1,700 stores intact.  

A bankruptcy judge on Tuesday approved the sale of 1,743 RadioShack stores to hedge fund Standard General, preserving some 7,500 jobs, the Wall Street Journal reported. Standard General intends to operate most of the preserved RadioShack stores in an alliance with Sprint Corp.

Hong Kong – Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. has appointed Yu Yongfu as president of the company’s online marketing unit, Alimama, to spearhead the business into new areas of growth. Yongfu joined Alibaba Group in June 2014 to lead the company’s mobile business unit.

Prior to joining Alibaba Group, Yongfu was chief executive of Chinese mobile browser company UCWeb. UCWeb was acquired by Alibaba Group in June 2014. Yongfu will begin his new position today and will report to Daniel Zhang, Alibaba Group’s COO.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. – Sears Holding Corp. is forming a real estate investment trust (REIT) called Seritage Growth Properties, which will purchase 254 Sears and Kmart stores for more than $2.5 billion. Seritage will partially fund the transaction through a public rights offering.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. – Hendricks Commercial Properties LLC, a Wisconsin-based real estate firm, has reportedly purchased the lone Kmart store on the Hawaiian island of Maui, for $20.8 million. According to Pacific Business News, the 108,000-sq.-ft. building is part of a seven-acre parcel that had been on the market for $22.5 million.

Hendricks purchased the store from KM Maui Partners, who had been leasing the store back to Kmart.
 

Sears Holding Corp. is looking to raise more than $2.5 billion by selling its stores to a real estate investment trust.

The REIT, called Seritage Growth Properties, will purchase 254 Sears and Kmart stores for more than $2.5 billion and then lease back the Sears and Kmart stores to Sears Holdings. Seritage will partially fund the transaction through a public rights offering.

A plan to co-brand RadioShack stores with the Sprint logo will apparently save the chain from extinction, according to the Wall Street Journal.  

Phoenix – PetSmart Inc. has named six new executives to its senior leadership team.  The additions reflect the first major hires by PetSmart’s newly installed president and CEO, Michael Massey.

Joining the Company are: Eran Cohen, executive VP of customer experience; Ron Cooperman, executive VP of strategy, Initiatives and real estate; Ted Passig, executive VP of buying and sourcing; Phil Vostrejs, executive VP of merchandise planning allocation, distribution and supply chain; and Brian Amkraut, senior VP of real estate.

Hampstead, Md. – Jos. A. Bank Clothiers is reportedly laying off 122 workers at its corporate headquarters. According to Reuters, the cuts will occur between May and December 2015, and represent about 15% of its total headquarters personnel. The layoffs come nearly one year after the company was acquired by Men’s Wearhouse.

Boca Raton, Fla. – A second request for information from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will reportedly not slow down the pending merger of Staples and Office Depot. According to the South Florida Business Journal, the FTC has requested unspecified additional documents and information from Office Depot.

Seattle – Online specialty footwear retailers Shoes.com, OnlineShoes.com and Shoeme.ca will now be known as Shoes.com. Despite the new parent brand, OnlineShoes.com and Shoeme.ca will continue to operate under their individual names.