Legislative, Regulatory & Legal

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has given Office Max and Office Depot clearance to proceed with their proposed merger. The companies anticipate completing the transaction after market close on Nov. 5, subject to the satisfaction of remaining closing conditions.

Naperville, Ill. -- The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has approved the merger of Office Max Inc. and Office Depot, the retailers said in a joint statement on Friday. The companies anticipate completing the transaction after market close on November 5, 2013.  

New York -- The attorney general of the state of New York is investigating Macy's and Barneys following complaints from black customers that they were stopped by police after making expensive luxury purchases, according to the New York Daily News. The local New York media has dubbed the practice “shop-and-frisk.”

New York -- Chinos Intermediate Holdings A, Inc., the indirect parent company of J. Crew Group, Inc., intends to issue $500 million of senior PIK toggle notes due 2019. The notes will be offered and will be sold in a private placement to qualified institutional buyers in the U.S, pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and to non-U.S. persons in transactions outside the U.S. pursuant to Regulation S under the Securities Act.   

Toronto – Sobey’s Inc. has signed a consent agreement with the Canadian Competition Bureau allowing it to proceed with the acquisition of substantially all of the assets of Canada Safeway.

As part of the consent agreement, Sobey’s will divest 23 stores in the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Sasketchewan. The deal, announced in June, will cost Sobey’s owner Empire Co. Ltd. about $5.7 billion.

Canada Safeway is up for grabs, and the Canadian Competition Bureau is allowing Sobey’s Inc. to proceed with the acquisition of substantially all its assets.

As part of the consent agreement, Sobey’s will divest 23 stores in the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Sasketchewan. The deal, announced in June, will cost Sobey’s owner Empire Co. Ltd. about $5.7 billion.

New York - U.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer, The Future of Privacy Forum (FPF) and a group of location analytics companies including Euclid, iInside (a WirelessWERX company), Mexia Interactive, Solomo, Radius Networks, Brickstream and Turnstyle Solutions have agreed to a code of conduct to promote consumer privacy and responsible data use for retail location analytics.  

New York - Almost three-in-four Americans are holding back on spending, according to a new Bankrate.com report, with stagnant income the most frequent reason (32%), followed by the need to save more (24%) and worries about the economy (20%). Just 27% of Americans say they are not holding back spending at all.

Additional findings: