Mergers & Acquisitions

Dallas -- X Team International partner Venture Commercial Real Estate has completed leases for two LA Fitness locations in Austin and McKinney, Texas.
 
"As LA Fitness continues to expand its footprint into North and Central Texas, our focus remains on identifying prime locations that will both meet the club's needs and generate increased foot traffic," said Venture Commercial Partner John Zikos.   
    

New Albany, Ohio - Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has initiated a process to refinance $500 million in existing credit facilities to two new facilities worth a total of $750 million. Proceeds are expected to be used to pay off a remaining $131.5 million balance and outstanding borrowings of $60 million related to existing credit facilities, and to pay related fees and expenses associated with the transaction.  

New York -- Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba increased its valuation to $130 billion less than a month before its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange.

The new figure is approximately $13 billion more than the company valued itself at in its original filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission in June.

Alibaba is expected to raise more than $20 billion, which would make it one of the largest offerings ever.

Staples has completed its acquisition of all the issued and outstanding common shares of PNI for consideration of C$1.70 per share pursuant to a plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia).

Chicago -- Mid-America Real Estate Corporation’s Investment Sales team recently brokered the sale of Gateway Square in Hinsdale (Chicago MSA), Illinois. The 39,710-sq.-ft. center was purchased for $10 million, excluding closing costs and adjustments, by Buffalo Grove, Illinois-based C P Management, LLC.
 

Union, N.J. - Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. intends to offer, subject to market and other conditions, senior unsecured notes due 2024, senior unsecured notes due 2034 and senior unsecured notes due 2044 under a shelf registration on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Bed Bath & Beyond intends to use the proceeds from this offering for share repurchases of its common stock and for general corporate purposes.

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and Wells Fargo Securities LLC are acting as joint book-running managers.

It is one of the smaller acquisitions CVS Caremark has done, but the purchase of the 33-unit Miami-based Navarro Discount Pharmacy could have big implications.

CVS Caremark late Monday said it reached an agreement with Navarro, the largest Hispanic owned drugstore chain in the U.S., to acquire 33 stores and Navarro Health Services, a specialty pharmacy serving patients with complex or chronic diseases. CVS Caremark operates more than 7,600 stores, but said it will continue operating the acquired units under the Navarro banner.

New York -- Barbara Turf, 71,  former CEO of Crate and Barrel, died July 12, at Evanston Hospital, of pancreatic cancer, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Turf was named CEO in 2008, after Crate & Barrel founder and longtime chief executive Gordon Segal retired. She joined Crate and Barrel as a part-time saleswoman in 1967, moving to its corporate headquarters in 1974. Turf retired as CEO in 2012 and joined the company's board of directors, the company said in a statement.