Mergers & Acquisitions

Toronto - Slate Retail REIT has entered into a binding agreement to purchase North Summit Square, a 99% occupied, 224,530-sq.-ft. grocery-anchored shopping center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for $15.8 million. The property is anchored by Sam's Club.

"We are very excited to announce our first acquisition since listing on the TSX," said Blair Welch, CEO of Slate Retail. "We see several further opportunities to make accretive acquisitions of grocery-anchored centers in attractive markets."

Brussels, Belgium - Delhaize Group has appointed Kevin Holt as CEO for Delhaize America. Holt, formerly president of retail operations at Supervalu, will also become a member of the Delhaize Group executive committee and will start effective July 7 and lead the group’s U.S. operations.

More strategic. That’s how Greg Esgar, CFO of Massage Envy Spa, the nation’s largest therapeutic massage chain, sums up the evolving role of today’s CFO. Esgar joined the Scottsdale, Arizona-based business as financial chief in 2004, two years after it was founded. As part of the executive team, he helped spur the company’s growth from 17 locations to its present total of nearly 1,000 sites in 49 states. With its membership-based, monthly-fee business model, Massage Envy Spa eschews the luxury amenities and high prices of traditional day spas.

Chicago – Groupon has reportedly purchased Canadian coupon app SnapSaves. According to the Canadian Press, Groupon completed the purchase June 13, buying the app for an undisclosed sum from Toronto-based daily deals site Buytopia.

SnapSaves users can take smartphone photos of their grocery receipts and receive refunds on select products. Groupon has been expanding its smartphone offerings in the past year, including the launch of a mobile app version of its website and a smartphone digital coupon feature called Freebies.

Tewksbury, Mass. – Following the dismissal of former president and CEO Arthur T. Demoulas, the board of directors of Demoulas Super Markets Inc. has elected retail executives Felicia Thornton as COO and Jim Gooch as chief administrative officer, and the two will serve as co-CEOs. Both Thornton and Gooch had recently been serving as consultants to the company.

Walgreens reported a 16% year-over-year jump in third quarter profit, but was forced to withdraw its previously issued fiscal 2016 guidance because it missed Wall Street estimates.

The company’s net earnings for the quarter were $722 million compared to $624 million in the prior-year period. Net sales increased 6% to $19.4 billion from $18.3 billion, while same-store sales increased 4.8%.

San Jose, Calif. - EBay Inc. has appointed Craig Hayman as president of its eBay Enterprise business. Hayman brings more than 30 years of enterprise technology leadership including executive positions at IBM’s Industry Cloud Solutions and WebSphere businesses.

Tewksbury, Mass. – Demoulas Supermarkets Inc. has fired CEO Arthur T. Demoulas. The retailer also fired director of operations Bill Marsden and VP of grocery Joe Rockwell.

Demoulas had been waging a public battle with his cousin Arthur S. Demoulas, a stakeholder and director of the company, about finances. Arthur T. Demoulas has claimed that his cousin seeks to raise prices and lower wages. The cousins have also publicly disagreed about agreements with suppliers and vendors.