Mergers & Acquisitions

New York -- Whole Foods Market has signed a lease for a 29,000-sq-ft. store in Newark, N.J., according to the Newark Star-Ledger.

The store is expected to be an anchor tenant in a 112-year-old landmark building that was once occupied by the Hahne & Co. department store. The building is being converted into a multi-use space that will feature apartments, retail and office space.
The project is a joint partnership between the Newark-based Hanini Group and L&M Development Partners of New York.

Chicago — Jones Lang LaSalle’s Capital Markets team has announced the completion of a sale-leaseback transaction for a portion of Walgreens Corporate Campus in Deerfield, Ill.

Realty Income purchased the 38-acre property with six buildings spanning 574,605-sq.-ft. and secured a long-term lease from Walgreens. The terms have gone undisclosed.

New York -- Wal-Mart Stores has put its ambitious expansion plans in India on hold indefinitely. The discounter and its joint venture partner in India, Bharti Enterprises, are parting ways after six years, the companies announced.

Scottsdale, Ariz. — With the opening of the first Montana franchise location, Massage Envy Spa now operates in 48 states. Located in Missoula, the new spa is one of the first to introduce the brand’s latest clinic design elements.

With more than 900 franchise locations operating in 48 states, Massage Envy is the largest system of franchised massage clinics in the U.S.

West Chester, Pa. - Liberty Interactive Corporation plans to create a QVC Group tracking stock as part of a recapitalization of the Liberty Interactive Group tracking stock. The QVC Group class of common stock will track the value of QVC, Inc. and Liberty's approximate 38% interest in HSN, Inc., along with cash and certain liabilities.

The Men’s Wearhouse has rejected Jos. A. Bank’s offer to acquire the retailer for about $2.3 billion in a $48 per share all-cash offer, and Jos. A. Banks is not taking no for an answer. 

The acquisition would create a men’s apparel powerhouse with more than 1,700 stores across the nation. However, the Men’s Wearhouse said in a press release that the unsolicited offer significantly undervalues the company, is inadequate and not in the best interests of the company or its shareholders.

Fort Worth, Texas — Trademark Property Co. has announced the appointment of Daniel Goldware as VP of leasing. Goldware will initially work on Waterside, Trademark’s new 63-acre master planned, mixed-use development under construction in Fort Worth, as well as Victory Park in downtown Dallas.

Goldware comes to Trademark from Weingarten Realty Investors where he served as a leasing executive in both Dallas and Houston for the past seven years.

New York -- A report by Wall Street Journal revealed that private equity investor Tower Three Partners will sell its final 3.9 million shares in Restoration Hardware Holdings, marking an exit for the buyout firms that acquired the home furnishings retailer in 2008.

Restoration Hardware’s private-equity backers have been cashing out amid a 90% rally in the stock this year, according to the report.