Trading Partners

New York -- Ending a five-month saga, Men's Wearhouse said it would acquire Jos. A. Bank Clothiers for about $1.8 billion, or $65 per share in cash. As part of the deal, Jos. A. Bank will terminate its plan to acquire Eddie Bauer from Golden Gate Capital.
 
The boards of both companies unanimously  approved the transaction.

ZAANDAM, the Netherlands — Ahold has entered into an agreement to acquire Spar's business in the Czech Republic. The acquisition includes 50 stores of which 36 are compact hypers and 14 are supermarkets.

Beachwood, Ohio — DDR has signed a letter of intent to sell its 50% ownership interest in Sonae Sierra Brazil BV Sarl, a Luxembourg company, to Alexander Otto and his affiliates for $343.6 million. DDR’s interest in SSB BV Sarl represents the company’s entire investment in Brazil. The gross proceeds of $346.6 million include $283 million from the negotiated price of R$26.00 per share of SSB, a 67% premium to the closing price on the IBOVESPA as of March 7, and DDR’s stake in Parque Dom Pedro, valued at $60.7 million.

Foster City, Calif. – Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. are teaming up to create a new group that will focus on improving payment system security. The group will include banks, credit unions, retailers and initially focus on adoption of EMV (Europay, MasterCard, Visa)-compliant card technology in the U.S. in advance of the October 2015 liability deadline.

The group will also study tokenization, or the replacement of customer account numbers with unique digital payment codes, and also cooperate with other industry groups.

New York -- Supervalu directors Mark Neporent and Lenard Tessler have stepped down from the company’s board of directors as a result of Cerberus-owned Albertsons’ deal to acquire Safeway.

Neporent and Tessler were both appointed to the Supervalu board in 2013 as designees of Symphony Investors, a Cerberus Capital Management L.P.-led investor consortium. Symphony Investors owns approximately 20.9% of Supervalu’s outstanding common stock, and has the right to designate replacement directors for Neporent and Tessler.

New York -- Private-equity firm Cerberus Capital Management has reached a preliminary agreement to buy Safeway Inc. for over $9 million, the Wall Street Journal reported. The deal is subject to board approval.

As part of the deal, Cerberus would pay roughly $40 a share for Safeway.

The Kroger Co., which recently completed its acquisition of Harris Teeter, reportedly was also interested in making a bid for Safeway. Even if a deal is announced between Cerberus and Safeway, Kroger could still mount a bid.

Canton, Mass. - Dunkin' Donuts has signed a multi-unit store development agreement with existing franchise group, Sizzling Donuts LLC for 46 new restaurants throughout the greater Sacramento, Calif., metro area and surrounding cities of Stockton, Modesto, Tracy, Manteca, Placerville and Davis, Calif.   

From mat management to the use of proper cleaning products, prevention is, of course, key to slip and fall management in retail stores. But there are two additional key areas that should be addressed — management communication and accountability. Indeed, sharing information and holding department managers accountable for results can reap numerous benefits for a company.

New York -- Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. has accused Mitchell Modell, CEO of Modell’s Sporting Goods, of disguising himself as a Dick’s executive to illegally obtain confidential business information, The Record reported.

Atlanta - Michael P. Ryan, operational VP of Aaron’s Inc., has been named VP of franchising. Todd Evans, current VP of franchising, will be leaving Aaron's to pursue other opportunities.

Henri Rogers, senior regional manager for Aaron's Three Rivers region, will succeed Ryan as divisional VP of northern operations.