Mergers & Acquisitions

Photo: ColorTek - Studio C, St. Louis

Cleveland -- Forest City Enterprises, Forest City Realty Trust announced the completion of the merger of FCE Merger Sub, Inc., an Ohio corporation, with and into Forest City Enterprises, Inc., with Forest City Enterprises, Inc. surviving as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Forest City Realty Trust, Inc.

The merger marks the final step in the company’s planned conversion to real estate investment trust (REIT) status for the taxable year ending December 31, 2016.

Restructuring will be key to retail survival in 2016, according to veteran retail analyst Walter Loeb, who is worried about the future profitability of many leading traditional retailers as the year gets underway. “They are losing sales productivity in their stores while expenses rise and management bureaucracy grows,” Loeb wrote in an article on Forbes.com. [Forbes.com]

Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy on Monday named Richard Willis as the company's president and CEO. He will also serve as a director of the company.

Los Angeles -- CBRE Group announced that it has acquired CBRE Memphis, a commercial real estate services firm that has served as CBRE’s affiliate in Memphis since 1996.

CBRE Memphis services include leasing, property sales, property management, project management and consulting. The firm has a staff of more than 100 and leases and/or manages approximately 14 million sq. ft. of property in the Memphis metro area, as well as in Jackson, Mississippi, and Arkansas.

New York -- Urban Edge Properties announced the acquisition of Pan Bay Center, located in the Howard Beach neighborhood of Queens, New York, for $27 million. The property includes almost the entire block on the west side of Cross Bay Boulevard between 156th Avenue and 157th Avenue.

The 50,000 sq. ft. property is currently 85% leased with local retail tenants on the ground floor and medical office tenants on the second floor. The property includes 97 parking spaces.

Sonic Drive-In is expanding its footprint in the Golden State.

The company signed franchise agreements to open a total of 33 new drive-ins in the state of California over the next seven years.

The 33 drive-ins are planned for multiple markets across the state: 11 in Sacramento; 12 in the San Francisco Bay Area; three in west Los Angeles; five between Bakersfield and Stockton and two in the Palm Springs area.

Circle K Stores Inc., a division of Alimentation Couche-Tard, has purchased 62 convenience stores in nine states from Dallas-based Greatstone Equities Inc., according to the Greater Baton Rouge Business Report.

The deal includes locations in Arizona, California, Florida, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Texas and Washington, the report said.