Mergers & Acquisitions

In general, the top acquirers of 2013 logged big gains over 2012

Editor’s Note: The 25th annual Chain Store Age survey of Fastest-Growing Acquirers surveyed retail square footage purchased during the 2013 calendar year.

Lenders are lending again, the equity markets are investing again, and buyers and sellers appear to be moving retail real estate faster than last year — which was a relatively good recovery year.

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.

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.

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.

Dallas — LA Fitness has signed leases for four new spaces, two in Austin, Texas, and two in San Antonio, Texas. Venture Commercial Real Estate represented LA Fitness in each transaction.

In Austin, LA Fitness plans to begin construction immediately on a 40,000-sq.-ft. facility at 2020 Anderson Lane and a 46,200-sq.-ft. facility in the Lamar Oaks Shopping center on Lamar Boulevard. Retail Solutions and The Weitzman Group represented the landlords for the Anderson Lane and Lamar Boulevard locations, respectively.

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.

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.