Mergers & Acquisitions

Atlanta –- Commercial real estate services firm Avison Young has completed the $7.06 million sale of Lindbergh Crossing, a 27,057-sq.-ft., fully-leased shopping center in Atlanta. The team enabled the seller, Lindbergh Crossing, LLC, to harvest a significant gain on the property within a relatively short holding period.  

Philadelphia -- Century 21 Department Store is opening an approximately 95,000-sq.-ft. anchor store at The Gallery shopping center in Philadelphia on Tuesday, Oct. 28. This will be New York-based Century 21’s first location outside the New York market.   

Woonsocket, R.I. –- CVS Health Corp. and Rite Aid. Corp., which have both used the near-field communication (NFC) technology that supports Apple Pay, have disabled their NFC payment systems to block Apple Pay from working in their stores. 

 

York, Me. –- Stonewall Kitchen has received an investment from private equity firm Centre Partners. As part of the investment, Stonewall Kitchen will continue to be managed by its existing leadership team with the addition of Centre operating partner John Stiker, who has been named CEO.    

Milan, Italy –- Leonardo Del Vecchio, 79, the chairman and founder of global eyewear manufacturer/retailer Luxottica Group who assumed the role of interim CEO on Oct. 14, has reportedly sent a letter to employees reassuring them his return as CEO is temporary. According to Reuters, in the letter, Del Vecchio said he would step down and turn management over to new co-CEOs once the company’s new governance structure is consolidated.  

Atlanta –- Aaron’s Inc.reported that its third quarter income fell 55% to $9.3 million, from $21.1 million the same quarter the prior year, amid expenses related to store closings, corporate realignment, executive retirements, the resolution of a regulatory investigation and the purchase of Progressive Finance Holdings.    Revenues increased 32% to $707.6 million compared to $537.2 million, aided by the addition of Progressive revenue.  

Tampa, Fla. -- Northbrook, Illinois-based Pine Tree Commercial Realty, LLC announced that it has acquired South Pasadena Shopping Center, a grocery-anchored community shopping center located in South Pasadena (Tampa), Florida, for $21.1 million.    The recent acquisition is Pine Tree’s 73rd and brings the company’s current portfolio to 3.5 million sq. ft. in 15 states.  

New York -- The cat is finally out of the bag. Former J.C. Penney CEO and Apple retail head Ron Johnson confirmed that he is launching a new company—but it’s not a tech-gadget delivery service as was widely rumored. Instead,  the new initiative, set to launch in 2015,  is designed to help online hoppers make the right product choices.