Mergers & Acquisitions

British supermarket giant Tesco has named John Allan as chairman, ending a four-month search after Richard Broadbent resigned amid an accounting scandal.

Allan, 66, will join the board and be appointed chairman on March 1, when Broadbent will step down from the board, Tesco said in a statement.

"I'm very pleased to be taking on this role at such a critical moment for the business and look forward to working with the new executive team and the board," Allan said.

Grapevine, Texas – Private equity firm Altamont Capital Partners has purchased specialty restaurant chain Cotton Patch Café, which operates 45 locations in Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. Kathy Nelson, CEO of Cotton Patch, participated in the investment and will continue in her role.

Altamont Capital also holds major investments in franchisees of the Taco Bell and Sonic Drive-In fast-food chains. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Scottsdale, Ariz. -- Amazing Lash Studio, a fast-growing franchisor of eyelash extension studios is starting 2015 by welcoming new regional developer partners who will open nearly 100 studios in Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Illinois, New Jersey and New York. This nearly doubles the coverage of the Amazing Lash Studio brand to 15 states across the country.

Franchise veterans Ren and Michelle Waters have partnered with Terry and Leslie Rock to develop 20 studios in the Nevada, Utah and Idaho regions for Amazing Lash Studio.

Luxury online retailer Gilt Groupe has been preparing for an IPO for a year now, but didn’t have enough cash. Now the retailer says it has raised another $50 million from venture backers.

Founded in 2007, Gilt is a New York-based e-commerce retailer that holds flash sales of discounted luxury items from clothing to home décor. The $50 million infusion brings Gilt’s total amount raised to about $250 million.

Dallas - Between now and June 30, 7-Eleven Inc. will waive the franchise fee on a select number of its U.S. stores available for franchise, a savings of up to $80,000. The more than 200 available stores are located in cities across the country.

During the last four years 7-Eleven has grown its store base by more than 1,300 units. Now that a 7-Eleven customer base has been established at these locations, the company is looking to transition these stores to franchise operations.

Acosta Sales & Marketing has appointed Randall J. Weisenburger to its board of directors.

Weisenburger is the managing member of Mile 26 Capital LLC. Previously, he served as the EVP and CFO of Omnicom Group Inc. for 16 years. Omnicom is a strategic holding company that manages a global portfolio of leading advertising, marketing, media services, public relations and specialty communications agencies serving over 5,000 clients in more than 100 counties.

London – Leading U.K. supermarket chain Tesco plc is reportedly considering laying off as many as 10,000 employees in response to poor profit performance. According to the Sunday Telegraph, Tesco may lay off up to 6,000 employees from its head office and 43 stores the retailer already announced it will close, and eliminate the rest by streamlining operations.

Jobs eliminated by streamlining would include executive positions. In January, Tesco said it would shutter 43 stores with as many as 2,000 resulting layoffs.
 

Rockford, Mich. -- Wolverine Worldwide posted fourth-quarter net income of $10.7 million, following a $1.7 million loss for the year-ago period. The company said it is increasing its brand-building investments in 2015, focusing on omnichannel initiatives and international expansion.