Mergers & Acquisitions

New York -- SweetFrog and Pizza Studio will open shops at Legends Outlets Kansas City in Kansas City, Kan., this spring and summer respectively. The locations will be the first in the Kansas City metropolitan area for both concepts.

SweetFrog has leased a 1,588-sq.-ft. space. The frozen yogurt franchise invites customers to make their own soft-serve creations, choosing from an array of flavors and toppings.

The Hillshire Brands Company has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Catterton portfolio company Van’s Natural Foods. Van’s is a leading better-for-you food brand of frozen breakfast and snack foods.

Hillshire Brands will pay $165 million for Van’s, which is expected to have net revenues of approximately $60 million in calendar year 2014. The transaction is expected to close in May 2014 pending regulatory clearance.

Lynchburg, Va. — Five Below has signed a 7,732-sq.-ft. lease at Wards Crossing West shopping center in Lynchburg, Va. It will be Five Below’s first store in the Lynchburg trade area.

Divaris Real Estate’s Richmond office represented Five Below in the transaction. DRE is the exclusive representative for Five Below in southwest Virginia.

New York — Vornado Realty Trust plans to spin off nearly 16.1 million sq. ft. of shopping center assets into a new publicly traded REIT by the end of 2014, leaving the company with a largely office-centric portfolio, according to SNL Real Estate.

The move will simplify Vornado’s investment strategy and enable the company to focus on the ownership of office assets in the Washington, D.C., and New York City regions, including the high-value Manhattan office over retail assets.

Milwaukee -- Roundy’s, Inc. will open Mariano’s Edgewater in Chicago on April 22. Edgewater is the fifth Mariano’s store to open of the 11 former Dominick’s locations acquired by Roundy’s in December 2013, and the eighth in the city of Chicago.

Store features will include a Vero Italian coffee and gelato shop, Squeez’d smoothie bar, and access to “Mariano’s Tastemakers,” 14 chefs and lifestyle experts who provide demos and advice.

Bethesda, Md. – Enterprise mobile and Big Data solutions and services vendor Digital Management Inc. (DMI) has acquired KnowledgePath, a provider of mobile and omni-channel commerce solutions. With the addition of KnowledgePath, DMI offers an integrated solution set for enterprise mobility, Big Data, mobile and e-commerce.

MasterCard is in the process of acquiring Pinpoint Pty. Ltd., an Australian provider of loyalty and rewards services to financial institutions across the Asia Pacific region. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2014.

Pinpoint was founded in 1984. Headquartered in Sydney, it has a growing footprint across the region into markets such as China, Hong Kong, India, Taiwan and Japan. Its customer base includes financial institutions and merchants.

Most U.S. retailers make their first international foray in contiguous markets such as Canada or Mexico for obvious reasons. However, for those interested in massive growth potential who have a long term perspective a more exotic market beckons.