Mergers & Acquisitions

Fort Worth, Texas – Pier 1 Imports (U.S.) Inc., a subsidiary of Pier 1 Imports Inc., has completed the amendment of its $350 million senior secured revolving credit facility and syndicated and closed a previously announced $200 million seven-year senior secured term loan B.

Proceeds from the $200 million term loan are intended to be used for general corporate purposes, including, among other things, working capital needs, capital expenditures, cash dividends and repurchases of the company’s common stock.

St. Louis -- Build-A-Bear Workshop Inc. reported a better-than-expected profit of $5.03 million for the first quarter, up from $13,000 a year before.

The company posted total revenue of $97.9 million, slightly below analysts expectations of $98.7 million, down from $ 104.3 million in first quarter 2013.

During the quarter, the company closed seven stores, ending the period with 316 company-owned stores.

Barely a week after leaving RadioShack, Troy Risch has landed on his feet at rival electronics retailer H.H. Gregg where he will serve as chief operating officer.

Risch will assume his new COO duties at H.H. Gregg May 5. He most recently served as EVP of store operations at RadioShack for 16 months, but left the company April 22. Assuming a leadership role at H.H. Gregg might seem like a potential violation of a non-compete agreement, closer inspection shows that H.H. Gregg and RadioShack don’t have that much in common from a product assortment standpoint.

San Jose, Calif. – A $3 billion tax charge on foreign profits resulted in EBay Inc. reporting a net loss of $2.33 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2013, compared to net earnings of $677 million in the first quarter of the previous fiscal year. Analysts had expected EBay to report net earnings for the quarter, although EBay paid the tax charge in the process of making about $6 billion in offshore cash available.

Eleven centers opened last year, with 50 more on the drawing boards

The recession lit the fuse that has produced an explosion of outlet center development.

Omaha, Neb. — A private California buyer has purchased a 20,134-sq.-ft. Natural Grocers in Omaha, Nebraska. Mid-America Real Estate Corp. represented the seller, a private developer, in the transaction.

Mid-America Real Estate Corporation is a member of Mid-America Real Estate Group, a ChainLinks affiliate headquartered in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois. The company is the Midwest’s leading full-service retail real estate organization with offices in Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis and Detroit.

Atlanta — Inland Real Estate Group has acquired Hitchcock Plaza in Aiken, South Carolina, for $28.9 million. JLL represented the seller, Hendon Properties, in the transaction.

Ross Dress for Less, T.J.Maxx, Bed Bath and Beyond, Old Navy and Academy Sports anchor the 252,097-sq.-ft. center.

eBay continues to strengthen its position in global commerce, as the company reported a 14% increase in revenue for the first quarter ended March 31 to $4.3 billion compared to the same period last year.

Total company enabled commerce volume (ECV) increased 24% in the quarter to $58 billion. Mobile ECV advanced 70% to $11 billion representing 19% of volume. Mobile downloads since inception exceeded 240 million and attracted 6.5 million new customers in the quarter. Cross-border trade grew 24%, representing $13 billion, or 22%, of total company ECV.