Mergers & Acquisitions

Hingham, Mass. -- Building #19, the New England closeout retailer which shut its doors after declaring Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 2013, has returned as The Rug Dept. The company opened its first Rug Dept. store in the town of Norwood, Mass. on Jan. 26.

Toronto -- Hudson's Bay Company will sell its flagship in downtown Toronto and neighboring office tower for C$650 million ($587.09 million) to an affiliate of commercial real estate developer Cadillac Fairview Corp., and open a full-line, 150,000-sq.-ft. Saks store in the leased-back space.

Houston -- Francesca's Holdings Corp. announced that in connection with a management restructuring, Theresa Backes, president and COO of Francesca's, will be leaving the company effective Jan. 27.

The board of directors appointed Neill P. Davis, Francesca's CEO, to the additional title of president. The retailer said it will not replace the COO position, and will realign the responsibilities among Davis and other existing executive officers.

cloudBuy, a cloud e-commerce marketplace, has named Jonathan Holden as CEO for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, reporting into the company's board.

The company will look to Holden to help drive expansion and oversee global partnerships, including Visa.

Los Angeles -- The Coffee Bean & Tea Left said that Bill Robards has joined the company as VP of store development. He will be responsible for delivering upon the brand's extensive growth and expansion plans in the United States.

Weiman Products, a leading manufacturer of specialty cleaning products, has acquired Goo Gone, Magic, Stone Care International, Natural Magic, OOPS! Paint Remover and Gonzo brands from the Homax Group.

“Adding Homax’s specialty cleaning brands to Weiman solidifies the Company’s position as the leading specialty cleaning products provider in the market,” said Carl DeMasi, Weiman’s president and CEO. “We fully expect our customers, suppliers, and employees to benefit from this acquisition.” T

Los Angeles — CBRE Group has acquired the commercial real estate brokerage, investment property sales and property management services business of The Furman Co. and certain of its affiliates. Those business lines have served as CBRE’s affiliate in South Carolina, and have operated under the banner of CBRE|Furman since 2010.

Following its fourth-quarter results, Kimberly-Clark plans to pursue targeted growth initiatives and support growth opportunities with increased advertising and research spending.

The company’s net sales of $5.3 billion were even with the year-ago period. Organic sales, which exclude the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates and lost sales as a result of European strategic changes and pulp and tissue restructuring actions, rose 5%, including an 11% increase in K-C International.