Corporate Governance

West Chester, Pa. -- QVC has appointed Ted Jastrzebski to the position of CFO. Jastrzebski, who will assume his new role in July 2013, will oversee QVC's financial operations, reporting to Mike George, president and CEO of QVC. He spent the last eight years in global leadership positions at The Hershey Company, most recently serving as senior VP and president of Hershey Americas.

Armonk, N.Y. -- IBM on Tuesday strengthened its position in the fast-growing market for cloud-computing services with the news that it has entered into an agreement to acquire SoftLayer Technologies Inc. The Dallas-based firm is the world's largest privately held cloud computing infrastructure provider, according to IBM.

The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. But reports, including one by the New York Times, valued it at approximately $2 billion,

NEW YORK — Nina Footwear has appointed Alan Johnson as president of Nina Footwear Corp, a newly created position at the company. In his new role, Johnson will oversee design, sales and marketing for Delman and all Nina branded divisions, including shoes, bridal, handbags and kids.  

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart is putting its money where its mouth is and not only making changes across produce sourcing, training and operations to offer customers fresher produce, but also rolling out a 100% money-back guarantee. 

According to the company, customers who are not completely satisfied with its produce can bring back their receipt for a full refund, no questions asked and no need to bring back the produce.

NEW YORK — Tiffany & Co. plans to open a two-level shop in Moscow’s GUM department store, the city’s leading luxury shopping destination, located in Red Square. The 4,520-sq.-ft. space is the jeweler’s first wholly owned retail business in Russia, and is expected to open in the first quarter 2014.

Atlanta -- Restaurant brands Boneheads Grilled Fish and Piri Piri Chicken has announced a new senior management team and board of directors, intended to ramp up the five-unit chains’ expansion plans.

Boneheads franchisee Ron Barber has been appointed chairman of the board, and Beef O’Brady’s and Brass Tap chief development officer James Walker has been named to the board of directors.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will hold its Annual Meeting of Shareholders on Friday, June 7, including an executive update by president and CEO Mike Duke.

As many as 14,000 global Walmart associates are also attending the event, most arriving in time for elaborate pre-meeting activities. "Our success is only possible because of the hard work and dedication of our 2.2 million associates around the world,” said Susan Chambers, executive VP global people, at Walmart.

Indianpolis -- Simon Property Group and McArthurGlen Group announced an agreement to form a joint venture through which SPG will invest in McArthurGlen, the leader in upscale, European designer outlets. 

Under the agreement, SPG will acquire an ownership interest in six properties and will also become a partner in McArthurGlen's property management and development company.  Included assets are in Austria, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Canada.