Financial/Banking

Atlanta -- A report released Monday by payment solutions provider First Data Corp. found that year-over-year October dollar volume growth of activations of closed-loop prepaid cards was 2.7%, down from 8.9% year-over-year growth in September.

The First Data SpendTrend Closed-Loop Prepaid Cards analysis tracks U.S. same-merchant activations, redemptions and reloads of merchant-branded prepaid cards, including spending, gift, incentive and promotional cards.

Brussels, Belgium -- Delhaize Group announced on Monday that AllianceBernstein LP lifted its voting stake in the food retailer to 5.04%.

The New York asset manager, a member of France's AXA group, now holds 5.11 million Delhaize shares, compared with 3.73 million as of Oct. 5, Delhaize reported.

Charlotte, N.C. -- Columbia, S.C.-based Edens & Avant announced that Atherton Mill and Market will soon welcome several new tenants.

Vin Master will open a 1,661-sq.-ft. wine concept retail store at Atherton Mill. In addition to its permanent retail location in Atherton Mill, Vin Master will also become the first permanent vendor at the Atherton Farmers Market, located at the center.

Vin Master will open in first quarter 2011.

Chicago -- Jones Lang LaSalle announced it has formed an alliance with the Property Tax division within Thomson Reuters’ Tax & Accounting business to provide tax mitigation services to corporate real estate clients.

Jones Lang LaSalle’s Real Estate Tax Mitigation offering provides review, recommendations and appeal processes to manage a corporation’s real estate tax budget.

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreen Co. said late Wednesday it is recommending that shareholders do not endorse an unsolicited offer from TRC Capital Corp. to buy up to 3 million shares of the drugstore chain.

The retailer said it received an offer from TRC on Nov. 3. The offer represents 0.3% of Walgreen’s outstanding stock.

Walgreen said it doesn't endorse the "mini-tender offer," because it is set at a price below the current market price for the company's shares and is subject to numerous conditions.

Menomonee Falls, Wis. -- Kohl's Corp. reported late Wednesday it earned $194 million in the quarter ended Oct. 30, compared with nearly identical net income of $193 million in the year-ago period. The retailer cited rising costs for the flat profit performance.

Revenue rose 4.2% to $4.22 billion, just missing Wall Street expectations of $4.3 billion.