Trading Partners

New York – Ann Inc. is publicly responding to an open letter sent by activist investors Engine Capital and Red Alder on Aug. 25, which urged the company to sell at a substantial premium above current stock price. In a press release, Ann Inc. said its board is “very active and consistently has been, and remains, focused on enhancing shareholder value.”

Ann Inc. also said its board regularly reviews all options and uses a financial advisor to help evaluate them.

North Plainfield, N.J. — David Reiner has joined retail real estate services firm Levin Management as VP of leasing. Most recently, Reiner served as director of real estate for Body Central Stores Inc.

During the past 25 years, he has also has held executive- and management-level retail leasing positions with property owners such as Urban Retail Properties, Colonial Properties Trust, and Simon Property Group.
 

Starboard Value CEO and chief investment officer Jeffrey Smith has resigned from the Office Depot board, effective immediately. The company’s nominating and governance committee plans to start a search for a replacement.

Boca Raton, Fla. - Jeffrey Smith, CEO of investment firm Starboard Value LLP, has resigned from Office Depot’s board of directors, effective immediately. The nominating and governance committee will commence a search for a replacement.

Smith, who joined the board in August 2013 to help Office Depot smoothly transition to a new combined company with OfficeMax and find a new CEO, said he is leaving because he is satisfied that Office Depot has reached both goals.

Since Family Dollar’s board of directors unanimously rejected Dollar General’s second and sweetened tender offer from Sept. 2, Dollar General has decided to make the tender offer directly to the company’s shareholders.

The company’s all-cash offer of $80 per share beats Dollar Tree’s offer of $74.50 per share cash/stock offer originally made July 28. The Family Dollar board has rejected both Dollar General’s offers on the basis of antitrust regulatory considerations.

Goodlettsville, Tenn. – Dollar General Corp. is upping the ante in its $9.1 billion bid to purchase Family Dollar Inc. by making a hostile takeover offer to Family Dollar stockholders of $80 per share. This offer beats the $74.50 per share, $8.5 billion offer Family Dollar has accepted from Dollar Tree Inc, and is a 32% premium over the closing price of $60.66 for Family Dollar stock on Sept. 9.
 

Arlington, Va. – Cooperation among all public- and private-sector stakeholders in the retail industry is needed to ensure cyber security in the face of high-profile retail hacking attacks like the one recently uncovered at Home Depot, according to the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA). Sandy Kennedy, president of RILA, released a public statement on the importance of continuing to improve the security of debit and credit cards.

Houston – Shipley Do-Nuts has signed a development agreement with Adkins Development Corp. to accelerate expansion in the Dallas/Fort Worth market. The agreement requires Adkins to open a minimum of 60 stores during a 15-year period.