Mergers & Acquisitions

Menlo Park, Calif. – Facebook has purchased personalized shopping engine TheFind.com, with the intent of making its ad more relevant to individual users. The social media giant will integrate TheFind’s functionality into its personalized ad-matching capability, rather than keep TheFind operating as a separate entity.

In a message on its homepage, TheFind said some employees will make the transition to Facebook.

Seattle – Amazon.com is moving forward in the burgeoning arena of the Internet of Things (IoT), but isn’t making a big deal about it. According to multiple media reports, Amazon has purchased 2lemetry, a Denver-based IoT startup, for an undisclosed sum.

2lemetry provides an enterprise platform that can track and manage Web-connected IoT devices, such as autos and appliances. The company was founded in 2011 and has raised $9 million in venture capital funding since that time.
 

Pleasanton, Calif. – Safeway Inc. is reportedly selling three shopping center it owns in Hawaii. According to Pacific Business News, Carlsbad, California-based Terramar Retail Centers is paying about $156 million for the centers.

Two of the centers are anchored by a Safeway – the 23-acre Hokulei Village in Lihue on Kauai for $52.25 million, and the 12-acre Lahaina Cannery Shops on Maui for about $60.3 million. Terramar is also paying $43.4 million for the 24.5-acre Target-anchored Puunene Shopping Center on Maui.

Laval, Canada - Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. is purchasing 21 stores, 151 dealer fuel supply agreements and five development properties through its Circle K Stores Inc. subsidiary from Cinco J Inc. The 21 stores and development properties are located in Texas, while the 151 dealer fuel supply agreements are located in the Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana.

Secaucus, N.J. – The Children’s Place Inc. on Thursday accelerated its store closing plans to 200 stores through 2017 (including 76 stores closed in 2013 and 2014), up from its previous announced target of 125 stores through 2016. The company also issued a weak outlook.

Cary, N.C. - The Pantry Inc. has announced the expiration of the waiting period under the U.S. Hart-Scott-Rondino Act for to the proposed merger between The Pantry and a U.S. subsidiary of Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. Pantry stockholders approved the merger agreement at a special meeting on March 10.

Unusual trading activity in shares of RadioShack prompted the company to issue a public statement reminding speculators the company’s shares are soon likely to be worthless.

Bankrupt companies don’t normally issue such warnings, but the move was prompted by trading in the company’s shares on the OTC Pink exchange under the symbol RSHCQ after the company was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange.

Consumer electronics retailer Tiger Direct has decided that brick-and-mortar is overrated.

The retailer is closing all but three of its 34 physical stores in the U.S. and internationally in order to focus exclusively on e-commerce.

An IT products and solutions provider, the company has made the strategic decision to accelerate its business-to-business and public sector customer focus, but mostly via its website.