Mergers & Acquisitions

Bolingbrook, Ill. — Vanessa Wittman, senior VP and CFO of Motorola Mobility, a subsidiary of Google, has been appointed the Ulta Beauty board of directors and as a member of its audit committee, effective June 5, 2014, following her election at the company’s annual shareholder meeting. Wittman joins the Ulta Beauty board with more than 25 years of experience in finance and technology.

New York — Sycamore Partners announced Monday that it bought the going-out-of-business Coldwater Creek brand and other intellectual property through an affiliate company during the  apparel chain’s  bankruptcy proceedings.  The private equity firm said it plans to re-launch Coldwater Creek as an independent portfolio company, but it did not give a timeline for the launch.

Terms of the acquisition weren’t disclosed.

Activist investor Carl Icahn on Friday reported a 9.4% stake in Family Dollar, making him the company’s largest shareholder and prompting concerns of a hostile takeover.
 
Family Dollar has responded by adopting a one-year shareholder rights plan with a 10% trigger that would prevent any investor from gaining a controlling interest of the company without board approval.
 

The Men's Wearhouse expects to complete its merger with Jos. A. Bank in the next few weeks, and looks forward to reaping the benefits of that combination as it closes its fiscal first quarter ended May 3.

Total net sales for quarter increased 2.3% to $630.5 million from $616.5 million in the prior-year quarter. Retail segment sales for the quarter increased by 2.4% and corporate apparel sales increased by 0.8% as compared to the prior year quarter.

Fremont, Calif. — The Men's Wearhouse has extended its all-cash tender offer for $65 per share for all of the currently outstanding shares of common stock (including associated stock purchase rights) of Jos. A. Bank to June 19, 2014, unless further amended.  The tender offer was previously set to expire on June 5, 2014.

New York — Wal-Mart Stores named  Greg Penner, 44, to the new role of vice chairman, a move that positions him to be a successor to chairman Rob Walton. Penner, 44, is Walton’s son-in-law and has served on the board since 2008. The appointment was announced Friday morning at the company's shareholders' meeting.

The move strengthens the Walton family’s control of the board. Walton, 69, is the son of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton.  

Wal-Mart Stores chairman Rob Walton, 69, announced the appointment of Greg Penner, 44, as vice chairman at the company's shareholders' meeting Friday morning, a move that positions Penner, Walton 's son-in-law, as his successor.

St. Louis — The Panera Bread Company board of directors has approved a new three-year share repurchase program of up to $600 million. This new program will replace an existing program which was scheduled to expire on Aug. 23, 2015 and has been terminated by the board of directors in connection with approving the new program.

The repurchases will be effected from time to time. The share repurchase program and the board's authorization of the program may be modified, suspended, or discontinued at any time.