Financial/Banking

Miami — Gourmet pizza and Panini restaurant Spris has opened in Miami’s Southeast Financial Center in the central business district.

The 1,512-sq.-ft. restaurant is the most recent in a series of Miami homegrown restaurateurs to come to the 1.225 million sq. ft. office tower and plaza.

New York -- Private-equity firm Sycamore Partners disclosed through a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday that an affiliate, Hummingbird LLC, had taken an 8% stake in Aeropostale.

Sycamore through its Hummingbird LLC unit, bought about 6.3 million shares of Aeropostale, according to the filing. That would make it the retailer’s fourth-largest shareholder, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Pleasanton, Calif. -- Safeway Inc. announced that it has adopted a one-year stockholder rights plan, or a “poison pill,” to discourage an unfriendly takeover.

The company adopted the plan after it became aware that unnamed investors had accumulated “a significant amount” of its stock. The investor turned out to be hedge fund company Jana Partners, which disclosed in a filing that it has accumulated a 6.2% stake in the supermarket retailer.

New York -- The Ontario Superior Court of Justice has approved Loblaw Cos.’ acquisition of Shoppers Drug Mart.

Completion of the arrangement remains conditional on compliance with the Competition Act and certain other closing conditions customary in transactions of this nature. The transaction is expected to be completed before the end of first quarter 2014.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Sears Holdings Corp. on Monday said it plans to obtain a senior secured term loan facility of up to $1 billion to help lower borrowings under its revolving credit facility.

The company said that the term loan would be issued under its existing credit agreement, which provides for a $3.28 billion revolving credit facility.

The term loan is expected to mature in June 2018.

New York -- Steven Roth, chairman and CEO of Vornado Realty Trust, resigned from the board of J.C. Penney as company plans to sell its stake in the chain.

In a filing on Friday, with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Vornado said it will exit Penney in the “not-too-distant future. The company owns about 6.1% of Penney’s shares.

Boston — A group of private equity companies, including Advent International and CDIB Capital, have joined together to acquire a significant equity position in International Coffee & Tea, which owns and operates stores under The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf banner, with an eye on expanding in Asia. Other investors participating in the transaction include Mirae Asset Private Equity and the Sassoon family (the latter is the largest existing shareholder of The Coffee Bean, and is remaining as a substantial shareholder).

Twitter is going public and announced its intention to file for an IPO with a tweet.

“We’ve confidentially submitted an S-1 to the SEC for a planned IPO,” stated the tweet. “This Tweet does not constitute an offer of any securities for sale.”