Mergers & Acquisitions

Albertsons Companies and Rite Aid Corp. announced on Wednesday that they are calling off their merger agreement. The $24 billion deal, announced in February, has faced opposition from a number of investors as well as top-10 shareholder Highfields Capital Management. Critics have argued the deal provides Albertsons’ private-equity owner, Cerberus Capital Management, a vehicle to…

U.S. grocery retailer Supervalu will sell itself to United Natural Foods in a $2.9 billion deal that includes debt, it said on Thursday, after coming under pressure from some shareholders to explore a sale. United Natural Foods, a distributor of natural and organic foods, offered Supervalu shareholders $32.50 per share in cash, a 67 percent premium…

After appointing a CEO for its healthcare joint venture with Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan last month, Amazon.com announced an acquisition that underscores how it also hopes to have a more direct — and more commercial — role in the world of healthcare in the coming years. Amazon has purchased PillPack, an online pharmacy the lets users buy…

Macy’s has partnered with b8ta, the retail-as-a-service startup that originally started as a way to let people try out new tech products before deciding whether to purchase them. Macy’s has acquired a minority stake in b8ta and will use the startup to enhance The Market, the department store chain's experiential-based retail concept. By partnering with…

2018 is expected to be another record year for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in retail. However, what's unique is the types of deals that will be driving the market. Three-quarters of the executives surveyed for A.T. Kearney's 2018 Consumer and Retail M&A Report said that they're using acquisitions to help their companies acquire new capabilities, expand their…

Rue La La, under parent company Kynetic, has acquired Gilt Groupe from Hudson’s Bay Co. to create one large flash sales entity called Rue Gilt Groupe. After merging, the companies are slated to reach $1 billion in sales. The combined group will be the fourth largest player in the flash sales space, according to Rue La…

Eddie Bauer and Pacific Sunwear are exploring a merger to consolidate their store footprint and weather a prolonged downturn in the U.S. brick-and-mortar retail sector. The two apparel retailers have both previously filed for bankruptcy and are looking for ways to spur future growth. In a merger, the companies could whittle down their store counts…

For consumer product and retail companies, 2017 offered more of the steady M&A activity that has characterized the market for the last several years. While deal value dropped from 2016 highs, this will likely be short lived. Based on interviews with C-level retail executives, three-quarters of whom reported that they’re using M&A to help their companies acquire new capabilities, expand their product portfolios, access new customers, or increase their geographic reach, the market is characterized by optimism from those at the top. For example, 71 percent of respondents reported that M&A is creating value, up from 48 percent last year.

This week, the board of Flipkart Online Services Pvt has approved an agreement to sell about 75 percent of the company to a Walmart Inc.-led group for approximately $15 billion, according to sources. Bloomberg reports under the proposed deal, SoftBank Group Corp. will sell all of the 20-plus percent stake it holds in Flipkart through…

Macy’s announced today that it has acquired STORY, a concept store in New York City. Additionally, Rachel Shechtman, STORY’s founder and chief executive officer, will join Macy’s, Inc. as brand experience officer, reporting directly to Hal Lawton, president of Macy’s. In her role, Shechtman will focus on ways to enhance the in-store customer experience with the…