Mergers & Acquisitions

Minneapolis – Strong sales of high-margin consumer electronics and TVs during the holiday season, as well as declining expenses, helped Best Buy Inc. beat Wall Street expectations for profit in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015. The retailer on Tuesday reported that net income surged 77% to $519 million from $293 million in the year ago period.

Slow and steady is winning the race at AutoZone where the company just notched its 34th consecutive quarter of double digit profit growth and has a stock pricing heading toward $700.

AutoZone’s sales in the company’s second quarter ended Feb. 14, increased 7.7% to slightly more than $2.1 billion and same store sales increased 3.6%. Net income increased 9.8% to $218 million with an aggressive stock buyback program enabling earnings per share to advance 15.6% to $6.51 cents from $5.63 the prior year and well ahead of analysts’ estimate of $6.38.

Barcelona -- Samsung Electronics Co. added new fire to the mobile payment market and its competition with Apple, unveiling two new flagship Galaxy smartphones and a mobile payments system in partnership with MasterCard.

New York -- It takes a scorecard these days to keep up with the fast-moving mobile payments industry. On the heels of Samsung’s announcement that it would roll out Samsung Pay in the United States this summer, PayPal announced it is buying mobile wallet technology start-up Paydiant.

Columbia Sportswear Co. is re-aligning its executive ranks in order to drive sustainable and profitable growth.

“Strong momentum behind each of our largest brands drove our global net sales to more than $2.1 billion in 2014 and is expected to fuel continued double-digit currency-neutral growth in 2015,” Chief Executive Officer Tim Boyle said. “The leadership changes that we are announcing today are intended to position us to secure the significant global growth potential that we believe exists within each of the brands in our portfolio.”

Regional discount retailer Shopko will experience its most dramatic growth in many years later this month when its Hometown stores division takes over locations from the now defunct Alco Stores chain.

Green Bay, Wis. -- Shopko on Monday announced plans to open 20 new Shopko Hometown stores in late March. The company recently acquired the rights to occupy the 20 stores, with locations primarily in Texas, North Dakota, Kansas and Minnesota, which were previously operated by Alco Stores.

The conversion to the Hometown banner will include a mix of new interior and exterior signage, carpet, paint, updated and supplement fixtures and lighting, improved store design and layout, as well as an expanded merchandise mix.

Denver -- The Running Specialty Group (RSG), a division of The Finish Line, has expanded its presence in the New York City area with the addition of JackRabbit Sports, consisting of four locations. Additionally, JackRabbit owner and founder, Lee Silverman, will join RSG’s leadership team in Denver as senior VP of brand strategy.