Mergers & Acquisitions

The CEO of Ollie’s Bargain Outlet says the company’s recent IPO contributed to another strong quarter of merchandise margin and sales growth.

For the third quarter ended Oct. 31, the value retailer said same store sales increased 3.2%. Total net sales increased 16.4% to $174.6 million. Net income increased 39.4% to $6.8 million, or $0.11 per diluted share.

Pep Boys, which agreed to be sold to Bridgestone in October, said it is considering a competing offer from Carl Icahn's investment firm that is worth $2 million more.

With rival AutoZone continuing to produce record results, Pep Boys' financial performance is headed in the opposite direction as uncertainty looms over who will acquire the company.

Pep Boys reported a 1.8% decrease in same store sales for the period ended Oct. 31. Net sales decreased by $9.4 million, or 1.8%, to $508.1 million from $517.6 million in the prior year. Net earnings were $1.3 million or 2 cents per share as compared to a net loss of $2 million in the prior year.

In October, Walgreens announced plans to acquire Rite Aid in a deal that had been widely anticipated. The deal is most certainly going to reshape the retail market by creating a drug store giant with nearly 13,000 stores in the United States; as well, it foretells of the significant changes occurring in the healthcare market.

The man who built a retail empire by inspiring a generation of shoppers to stock their kitchens with garlic presses and soufflé pans has died.

Charles E. “Chuck” Williams, founder and director emeritus of Williams-Sonoma Inc., died of natural causes over the weekend, the company announced. He was 100 years old.

Activist investor Carl Icahn has offered to buy Pep Boys-Manny, Moe & Jack in a deal valuing the U.S. auto parts retailer at about $837 million, trumping Bridgestone's offer of $810 million in October.

It’s like it is 1997 all over again with the Federal Trade Commission stepping in to block a merger between Staples and Office Depot on grounds that the deal would diminish competition.

The combination of acquisitions, new unit expansion and same-store sales growth enabled Mattress Firm to achieve record third quarter results and the company’s biggest deal ever is expected to close in 2016.