Corporate Governance

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.

Chesapeake, Va. -- Dollar Tree Inc. and Family Dollar Stores Inc. announced, as expected, they have received a second request for information from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission in connection with Dollar Tree's pending $8.5 billion deal to acquire Family Dollar.

Wayne, N.J. – Toys “R” Us on Tuesday announced several executive appointments. The retailer named Debbie Lentz as senior VP, chief supply chain officer, with responsibility for U.S. distribution and customs compliance, global importing and exporting, fleet operations and domestic transportation, reporting to Hank Mullany, president, Toys “R” Us, U.S.

New York -- Barnes & Noble Inc. on Tuesday reported a smaller-than-expected loss of $28.4 million in its fiscal first quarter, down from $87 million a share, a year earlier. The chain has been cutting spending in its Nook e-reader division and moving toward a spinoff of the business.

Revenue fell 7% to $1.24 billion, including a 5.3% drop at the company’s retail segment.

Duluth, Minn. -- Maurices, a subsidiary of the Ascena Retail Group, announced that Ali Wing has been named chief marketing officer, executive VP of digital commerce. Wing joins Maurices after 10 years as CEO and founder of giggle, a multichannel retailer, wholesaler and licenser of baby products.

New York -- Home Depot officially confirmed that in-store payment systems at its U.S. and Canadian stores had been hacked in a breach that potentially could be one of the biggest attacks yet. The chain said malware was used in the hack.  

Rakuten has confirmed that it is in the process of acquiring Ebates, a provider of the largest cash-back shopping website in North America, for a total consideration of $1 billion in cash and will hold 100% of Ebates’ outstanding voting stock.

RetailMeNot, a leading marketplace for digital offers, has added Eric Korman to its board of directors.

Korman recently served as president of Ralph Lauren's digital and global e-commerce division, where he was responsible for the company's digital businesses, marketing and operations, across all markets. In addition to leading the digital division, Korman is credited with establishing and managing Ralph Lauren's customer intelligence and experience management group, a global enterprise function supporting all global business channels.

As part of its continued long-term profitable growth strategy, Toys“R”Us has appointed a number of executives to key leadership roles.
 

General Mills is in the process of acquiring leading natural and organic food company Annie’s for $46 per share in cash, for a total transaction value of approximately $820 million.  

The transaction consideration represents a 51% premium over Annie’s 30-day average closing price of $30.47 as of Sept. 5. Annie’s will continue to be headquartered in Berkeley, California.