Mergers & Acquisitions

The Woodlands, Texas -- Conn's, Inc. has completed an expansion and extension of its asset-based loan facility with a syndicate of banks.

Antonio Urcelay has replaced Gerald Storch as chairman of Toys “R” Us and the retailer also named Richard Markee to its board.

Fremont, Calif. -- Men's Wearhouse has turned the tables on Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, with a proposal to acquire its one-time suitor for approximately $1.54 billion. Men's Wearhouse is offering $55 per share for Jos. A. Bank, which represents nearly a 9% premium to the company's $50.32 Monday closing price.

Jos. A. Bank made an unsolicited $2.3 billion bid in early October for Men’s Wearhouse, which rejected the offer, calling "opportunistic" and "inadequate."

Wayne, N.Y. -- Toys “R” Us CEO Antonio Urcelay has replaced Gerald Storch as chairman of the company. Urcelay, appointed interim CEO at Toys “R” Us in May 2013, was officially named chief executive in October.

Storch, who had previously served as CEO, is stepping down as chairman to dedicate more time to his consulting company, Storch Advisors, Toys “R” Us said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Leading data collection and mobile research provider Field Agent added new insights capabilities to its solutions offering with the acquisition of CORE4 Research.

Glendenning, New South Wales, Australia – McAlpine Hussmann Pty. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Hussmann Corporation, has acquired the assets of the former Austral Refrigeration case equipment manufacturing and distribution operations from Retail FM (a wholly owned subsidiary of Woolworths Limited). At the same time, McAlpine Hussmann Australia Pty. Ltd. has acquired the Suzhou China case equipment manufacturing and distribution business from Retail FM.
 

Green Bay, Wis. -- Shopko on Monday named Peter McMahon, most recently COO of Loblaws, as its new CEO. Loblaws is Canada’s largest food retailer with over $30 billion in sales.

At Loblaws, McMahon was responsible for supply chain, IT, HR, labor relations, merchandising, store operations and loss prevention functions. Prior to Loblaws, McMahon held various senior level positions with some of the world’s largest retailers, including Wal-Mart in Germany and Japan and Tesco in central Europe.
 

Bentonville, Ark. – Wal-Mart Stores said Mike Duke will retire as president and CEO, effective Feb. 1, 2014, and will be replaced by veteran company executive Doug McMillon. McMillon, 47, president and CEO of Walmart International, was also named to Wal-Mart’s board, effective immediately.