Financial/Banking

Northbrook, Ill. -- Pine Tree Commercial Realty and New York City-based Silverpeak Real Estate Partners announced they have formed a joint venture with the goal of acquiring retail assets and portfolios across the United States.

According to Chris Westfahl, principal of Silverpeak, and Peter Borzak, co-founder and principal of Pine Tree, the new JV – Pine Tree Silverpeak Retail Partners LLC – plans to pursue transactions greater than $10 million and across the risk spectrum, ranging from raw land for development to stabilized core assets.

Hartford, Conn. -- RBS recently completed a $20 million senior credit facility for FM Global Holdings (FM Facility Maintenance). The proceeds will be used to provide working capital for growth and acquisition financing.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Borders Group executive VP and chief merchandising officer Michele Cloutier has resigned, Borders said in a late afternoon Friday filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

It is the latest in a string of high-level departures from the bookseller as it struggles to emerge from bankruptcy protection.

On Thursday, the company received a deadline extension until mid-October to file a plan to restructure. An attorney for Borders said parts of the company could be sold in as quickly as two weeks.

New York City -- A $15 billion share buyback program, unveiled earlier in June, will allow Wal-Mart Stores’ founder Sam Walton’s descendants to see their stake in the chain edge up above 50%.

After Walton died in 1992, family members retained a stake of around 38% from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s. Starting in 2003, a series of big share buybacks began to push the family stake higher, to 43% in 2008 and now to 49%, according to the latest filings.

Pleasanton, Calif. -- Safeway said Tuesday it has signed a new $1.5 billion revolving credit agreement that replaces a $1.6 billion facility.

The new agreement is for four years, while the one it is replacing was set to mature on June 1, 2012.

Safeway said that its Canadian subsidiary can borrow up to $250 million from the new facility, which will be used for general corporate purposes.
 

As part of our ongoing coverage of RECon, the annual retail real estate convention conducted by the International Council of Shopping Centers and held May 22-25 in Las Vegas, Chain Store Age talked with Adam Ifshin, president and CEO of Tarrytown, N.Y.-based DLC Management Corp., to get his take – post-convention – about the state of the industry.

What are your key takeaways from RECon 2011?

Ann Arbor, Mich. -- Borders Group executive VP and chief merchandising officer Michele Cloutier has resigned, Borders said in a late afternoon Friday filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

It is the latest in a string of high-level departures from the bookseller as it struggles to emerge from bankruptcy protection.

On Thursday, the company received a deadline extension until mid-October to file a plan to restructure. An attorney for Borders said parts of the company could be sold in as quickly as two weeks.

Heading into last Friday’s annual meeting, the financial community had high expectations Walmart would allocate additional funds to buy back stock, and the company didn’t disappoint. The $15 billion share repurchase authorization CFO Charles Holley announced replaced an existing $15 billion program approved one year earlier that had dwindled to just $2 billion due to the fact that Walmart was an aggressive purchaser of its own stock during the past 12 months.