Mergers & Acquisitions

Wet Seal may file for bankruptcy protection if it fails to immediately resolve its liquidity issues, the company said.

San Jose, Calif. – EBay Inc. is reportedly considering cutting up to 3,000 jobs early in 2015. According to the Wall Street Journal, the staff reductions would primarily occur in the EBay Marketplace unit as the company prepares to spin off its PayPal unit.   

Lowe’s CEO Robert Niblock cited the recovering U.S. economy as among the reasons why the company plans to focus more on market differentiation and omnichannel retailing.

The company said it will outline these and other strategic priorities in a meeting with investors on Dec. 11 in North Carolina.

Fremont, Calif. – Men's Wearhouse Inc.'s third-quarter profit plunged 82%, mainly on expenses related to its June 2014 acquisition of rival Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc.      The retailer reported a profit $6.8 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2014, from $38.2 million in the year-ago-period and below Wall Street projections.  

Austin, Texas - Business software solution provider Epicor Software Corp. has agreed to acquire Atlanta-based ShopVisible LLC, a provider of cloud retail order management and digital commerce solutions. The acquisition of ShopVisible, expected to close by the end of the year, will expand Epicor’s position as a provider of extended omni-channel solutions for midsize and large retail chains.   

New York - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has reportedly discovered discrepancies in accounting practices its China business was using that made performance look better than it really was. According to Bloomberg, shifty accounting practices included making unauthorized bulk sales to other retailers and even booking non-existent sales. 

DEERFIELD, Ill. - Walgreens president and CEO Greg Wasson informed the company’s board of directors that he will retire shortly after the completion of the merger between Walgreens and Alliance Boots, of which shareholders are scheduled to vote on Dec. 29, 2014.    

Fairway Market announced that Howard Glickberg, whose grandfather took a fruit and vegetable stand in New York and turned it into a 15-store grocery chain, is retiring.

Glickberg most recently served as vice chair of real estate development for Fairway. He will remain a member of the retailer’s board of directors, Fairway said. He worked with the company for more than 40 years, serving as its CEO until 2011.