Corporate Governance

San Jose, Calif. – eBay Inc. has sold its 28.4% stake in Craigslist back to the online classified ad service inn a confidential settlement agreement. eBay initially purchased the stake from Craiglist in 2004, but the two parties have been involved in litigation for years.

Boca Raton, Fla. — A deal that would leave the nation with one giant office-supply retailer is one step nearer to completion.

Office Depot shareholders have voted overwhelmingly in favor of the proposed $6.3 billion buyout offer from rival Staples Inc., with 99.5 % of the votes cast in favor of the merger.

Staples proposed to acquire Office Depot in February in a cash-and-stock deal. Under the deal, Office Depot shareholders will get $7.25 per share in cash and 0.2188 of a share in Staples stock for each Office Depot share held.

New York — Less drama and fewer flipflops — those were some of the changes at Abercrombie & Fitch Co.’s annual meeting on Thursday, Columbus Business First reports. It was the first annual gathering since longtime, controversial CEO Michael Jefferies left the company. For the full story, click here. 

New York — Aeropostale is losing a key executive and not replacing her.

The retailer announced that its chief merchandiser, Executive VP Emilia Fabricant, is leaving the company. Effective immediately, the company's senior merchandising team will report to CEO Julian R. Geiger.

The retailer said there are no plans to seek a replacement for Fabricant at this time.

Cincinnati —The Kroger Co.’s King Soopers division is tapping into consumers’ growing appetite for food delivery and natural and organic products with a new digital initiative.

The company has launched a new website that offers over 36,000 natural and organic products for customers who live in and around the Denver metro area. Every product is free from more than 101 artificial ingredients and preservatives that many customers prefer to be left out of products.

WILMINGTON, N.C. — The Mayfaire Town Center and Mayfaire Community Center have been acquired by CBL & Associates Properties, a publicly traded real estate investment trust based in Chattanooga, Tenn.

The sale, which closed June 18, is not expected to result in immediate changes that will be noticed by consumers.

Once a horse farm, Mayfaire Town Center and Mayfaire Community Center have become one of North Carolina's premier shopping and leisure destinations.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Cypress Equities, the management company for Brookwood Village, announced its plans for updating the interior of the two-level shopping center that straddles the communities of Homewood and Mountain Brook.

The King Soopers grocery chain is trying to meet rising demand for fresh food delivery with a new digital initiative.

King Soopers, a division of the Kroger Co. has launched an e-commerce website KingSoopers.com/LiveNaturally.

Barnes & Noble Inc. has appointed a Home Depot president and a former executive of PaineWebber as two new independent directors to its board ahead of the company's separation of its retail and college businesses.

The new board members are Ann-Marie Campbell, president of the southern division of Home Depot, and Paul B. Guenther, former president of PaineWebber Group Inc., the parent company of Paine Webber, Incorporated.

Ever-growing Amazon.com Inc. is expanding its e-commerce capabilities in Target's home turf.

The e-commerce behemoth has announced it will open an 850,000 square foot fulfillment center in the Minneapolis area, its first DC in the state of Minnesota.