Deals

Albuquerque, N.M. -- Heslin Holdings, Inc. announced the acquisition of West Central Plaza Shopping Center, a retail property located in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The firm plans to invest more than $12 million -- for both the acquisition and to redevelop and re-tenant the property -- as part of a value-add investment strategy.
 

Phoenix -- CBRE has announced that LeDonna Spongberg, a retail leasing professional, has joined the company’s Phoenix office as a first VP.

Sears Holdings will eventually need to sell more stuff to shoppers to remain viable as a retailer, but in the meantime the company has shown itself to be more adept at generating cash through complex real estate deals that unlock the value of an increasingly less productive store base.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. – In its latest move to capitalize on the value of its real estate and raise more cash, Sears Holdings Corp. has formed a joint venture with Simon Property Group whereby Simon will take ownership of 10 Sears stores in Simon malls and lease them back to Sears, who will continue operating Sears stores in the venture. The stores include properties Sears has leased to other entities.

New York -- General Electric Company on Friday announced it will sell or spin off the majority of its $500 billion GE Capital finance business over the next two years as it looks to simplify and concentrate on its industrial roots. The company said it will keep its aircraft leasing operation and smaller lending lines.

GE said it has sold its real-estate assets, which include commercial loans and office buildings, for $26.5 billion, with  Wells Fargo & Co. and private equity firm Blackstone Group buying the bulk of it.

Overland Park, Kan. -- A new chapter in the ongoing saga of RadioShack started on Friday with Sprint launching retail operations in 1,435 RadioShack stores.
 

Deerfield, Ill. — Walgreens Boots Alliance on Thursday reported quarterly earnings for the first time since the December 2014 merger of Walgreen Co. and Alliance Boots GmbH. The announcement included the news that the drug store retailer will close about 200 U.S. stores as part of its previously announced three-year, $1 billion cost-reduction plan.

Cincinnati – The Kroger Co. is reportedly planning to close and rebrand some stores operating under the Harris-Teeter banner in Tennessee. According to the Nashville Tennesseean, Kroger will close four Harris-Teeter stores it operates in Nashville by June 2015.

Three of those stores will reopen under the Kroger banner. Kroger previously closed a Harris-Teeter location in Nashville, but has not yet rebranded any Harris-Teeter stores. Kroger purchased the Harris-Teeter grocery chain for $2.4 billion in January 2014.