Mergers & Acquisitions

Xcel Brands Inc. has appointed a veteran marketing executive of Target to the Xcel board of directors.

"We are thrilled to have Michael Francis join our board of directors," said Robert D'Loren, chairman and CEO of Xcel Brands Inc. "Michael brings incredible marketing, leadership, innovation, and extensive branding experience to our Board and Xcel, and we look forward to working with him in this new capacity." 

Target plans to sell its pharmacy business to CVS Health for $1.9 billion and rebrand its nearly 1,700 prescription departments as CVS/pharmacy in a blockbuster deal that stunned the health care world.

Mahwah, N.J. – Ascena Retail Group Inc. fell short of Wall Street expectations for profit and revenue in a difficult third quarter of fiscal 2015. Net income fell 23% to $24.4 million, from $33.2 million in the same quarter a year earlier.

CVS/pharmacy is launching a Hispanic-focused rebranding of some of its stores in South Florida, an initiative that the retailer hopes to eventually roll out nationally.

The new and remodeled stores are called CVS/pharmacy y mas. Twelve CVS/pharmacy y mas stores are now open in South Florida, including 11 remodeled CVS stores and one brand new store. They all feature a fully bilingual staff, the addition of more than 1,500 Hispanic products, more competitive pricing on hundreds of products, and new services unique to a national retail pharmacy.

The struggling Justice brand and the West Coast port dispute held back Ascena Retail Group Inc. in the third quarter as the company awaits its acquisition of Ann Inc. to close later in 2015.

The architect of the reinvention of Domino's Pizza will become the next CEO of Toys"R"Us in July.

David A. Brandon will succeed Antonio Urcelay, as he is retiring from the company.

Brandon, 63, has deep experience in growing businesses, developing talent and building high-performance cultures that enable organizations to create and capture value.

Fairfax, Va. – The “unnamed strategic bidder” who outbid Hot Topic to purchase Geeknet Inc. has been revealed. GameStop Corp. will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Geeknet’s common stock for $20 per share in cash, or about $140 million.

Dallas - Donald T. Grimes will be joining Neiman Marcus Group as executive VP, COO and CFO. Grimes will succeed Jim Skinner, who will continue to be part of the company’s management team in the newly created role of vice chairman, Neiman Marcus Group.