Financial/Banking

Federal Realty Investment Trust announced that Dan Guglielmone will take over as its CFO and treasurer next month. A 13-year veteran of Vornado, Guglielmone is currently the company’s senior VP of acquisitions. He previously spent 10 years in investment banking with the real estate and lodging group of Salomon Smith Barney/Citigroup.  

Specialty apparel retailer The Children’s Place Inc. is partnering with marketing and loyalty solutions provider Alliance Data Systems Corp. to launch a new private label credit card.  

The $11 billion purchase of Belgium-based supermarket operator Delhaize Group by Netherlands-based grocery conglomerate Ahold is coming closer.   The two companies both announced they expect the deal, approved by the shareholders of both companies in March 2016, to go through before the end of July 2016, subject to regulatory approval by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC).   

The National Retail Federation (NRF) has been actively campaigning to keep federal caps on debit card swipe fees, and now its constituents are speaking out.  

DDR fired president and CEO David Oakes and replaced him with 40-year industry veteran Thomas August. A company press release says Oakes’ termination was unrelated to financial or operating results, though DDR showed a net loss of $93.5 million in 2015 after posting income of $91.3 million the previous year.  

Sales and purchases of shopping center assets at Kimco Realty Corp during the second quarter of 2016 exceeded $1 billion dollars, according to details released by the company.   The Hyde Park, New York-based Kimco sold 22 Canadian shopping centers totaling 28 million sq. ft. for $474.4 million, which included the assignment of $213.5 million of existing mortgage debt. It also disposed of 12 unencumbered U.S. properties totaling 1.5 million sq. ft. for $220.5 million.  

Tom Petty fans can commiserate with retailers who report having difficulty implementing EMV due to slow movement from the payment card industry.   According to a new survey of retailers conducted by the National Retail Federation (NRF) in May and June, 48% of respondents had already implemented the new EMV chip card system or expected to have done so by the end of June. A total of 86% expect to have EMV up and running by the end of the year.  

Brookfield Asset Management announced the completion of its deal to acquire Rouse Properties at a price of $18.25 per share.   Rouse will be merged with Brookfield’s BSREP II Retailing Pool LLC affiliate and the acquired company’s stock will be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange.