Mergers & Acquisitions

New York – A Credit Suisse analyst is reportedly recommending that Staples and Office Depot, itself recently merged with Office Max, merge. According to Investors Business Daily, Credit Suisse analyst Gary Balter made the suggestion in a note sent to clients on Tuesday, Sept. 2.

San Antonio, Texas - Tryperion Partners, a private real estate investment firm, has acquired Gateway Plaza, a 97% occupied, 138,510-sq.-ft. community shopping center anchored by Burlington Coat Factory that is located in San Antonio’s burgeoning metropolitan area. The acquisition, which is Tryperion’s second of a San Antonio REO property in less than a year, includes additional land for future development.
 

Nashville, Tenn. – Deferred expenses related to its 2011 purchase of Scotland-based Schuh Group, as well as a change in accounting for bonus for awards, reduced net income at Genesco Inc. to $4.8 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2015, down 43% from the same quarter the previous year.

Tewksbury, Mass. – In what should mark the end of a six-week standoff that began July 18, Arthur T. Demoulas, who was fired by his cousin Arthur S. Demoulas as CEO of the Market Basket supermarket chain in June, has agreed to buy the company for $1.5 billion. Since Friday, July 18, many Market Basket employees and customers have staged a boycott, dramatically slowing down business at the company’s 71 stores in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine.

Peoria, Ill. -- Cullinan Properties announced that Prasino Restaurant at the Streets of St. Charles near St. Louis is in the process of securing new ownership by a group of investors.

Prasino opened at the Streets of St. Charles on April 22, 2013, and has been listed as “The Best New Restaurants in St. Louis” and awarded “A-List Breakfast Winner” for its Paris Benedict, by St. Louis Magazine.

Chicago -- Pine Tree Commercial Realty has acquired Poplar-Prairie Stone Crossing, a class-A power shopping center located in the Northwest Chicago suburb of Hoffman Estates, Illinois. The recent acquisition is Pine Tree’s 70th and brings the company’s current portfolio to 3.4 million sq. ft. in 19 separate properties.

The 312,000-sq.-ft. shopping center is shadow-anchored by Target and features TJ Maxx, Michaels, Ross Dress for Less, PetSmart, Lane Bryant, and Sports Authority.

Denver - The Running Specialty Group, part of The Finish Line Inc. organization, has appointed Bob Wallace as senior advisor, strategic initiatives. Wallace founded specialty running retail chain RunON, which Running Specialty Group purchased in 2012.

Wallace will serve as a key counselor to strategically plan and integrate growth opportunities surrounding industry trends while focusing on attaining operational excellence and being an ambassador to the running community. He entered the specialty running business in 1995.

Canton, Mass. – Charges related to the decision by Destination XL Group Inc. to exit the Sears Canada Direct business resulted in the retailer’s net loss growing to $4 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2014, from $1.6 million a year earlier.

Total sales fared better, driven by increased traffic and higher conversion rates, increasing 6% to $103.7 million, compared with $98 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2013.Same-store sales rose 7%.