Mergers & Acquisitions

Secaucus, N.J. - The Children's Place Inc. has rejected three board of directors nominees from shareholders Barington Capital Group L.P. and Macellum Advisors GP LLC. The two investment firms, which collectively own less than 2% of the company’s shares, sent a letter expressing concern about The Children’s Place financial performance and recommending new nominees in March 2015.

Specialty retailer the Children’s Place has rejected an alternate slate of directors proposed by a firm agitating for change after it acquired roughly 2% of the retailer’s outstanding shares.

Best Buy President and Chief Executive Officer Hubert Joly has added the title of Chairman to his responsibilities at the retailer after long time board member Hatim Tyabji and several others decided to step down.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. – In its latest move to capitalize on the value of its real estate and raise more cash, Sears Holdings Corp. has formed a joint venture with Simon Property Group whereby Simon will take ownership of 10 Sears stores in Simon malls and lease them back to Sears, who will continue operating Sears stores in the venture. The stores include properties Sears has leased to other entities.

Sears Holdings will eventually need to sell more stuff to shoppers to remain viable as a retailer, but in the meantime the company has shown itself to be more adept at generating cash through complex real estate deals that unlock the value of an increasingly less productive store base.

Bentonville, Ark. – Walton Enterprises LLC, the corporation which holds Wal-Mart stock for the Walton family, plans to sell off some of its ownership stake in the discount giant. In a brief statement on the Wal-Mart investors webpage, Walton Enterprises said its stake in Wal-Mart has risen to about 50% as a result of stock buyback programs.

Starboard Value, the investment firm driving change at Staples, pushed the retailer to merge with Office Depot and now has achieved another of its goals with the addition of a new board member.

Overland Park, Kan. -- A new chapter in the ongoing saga of RadioShack started on Friday with Sprint launching retail operations in 1,435 RadioShack stores.