Mergers & Acquisitions

The Yoox Group said on Tuesday that it had agreed to merge with its luxury e-commerce rival Net-a-Porter in an all-share deal. The transaction would create an online luxury fashion retailer from two companies that combined to post revenue of 1.3 billion euros, or about $1.4 billion, in 2014, Yoox said. The new company would be called Yoox Net-a-Porter Group. The agreement comes more than a year after the first reports that Yoox was exploring a purchase and a day after the companies confirmed they were considering a potential business combination.

There was a time when it looked like Amazon.com wanted to become a destination for high-end fashion, but now that that goal is looking less attainable, the online retail giant may just acquire a destination instead. According to a report in Women's Wear Daily, Amazon is in "ongoing talks" to buy Net-a-Porter, which could be valued at as much as €2 billion (about $2.2 billion). Reps from both parties declined to comment, and it's always possible that the talks could lead to nothing, but the deal would make sense for a few reasons.

A unit of GameStop Corp. won an auction for the right to take over more than 160 stores that bankrupt consumer-electronics retailer RadioShack Corp. was planning to close. In court documents filed Wednesday in Wilmington, Delaware, RadioShack said GameStop's Spring Communications Holding — known as Spring Mobile — will pay $15,000 a store to take over leases at locations around the U.S. Spring has about two months to decide which of the stores it wants.

Rite Aid, the big pharmacy chain, agreed on Wednesday to acquire a top pharmacy benefit manager, Envision Pharmaceutical Services, for $2 billion in cash and stock. Envision Pharmaceutical Services, known as EnvisionRx, is owned by the private equity firm TPG, making this one of the year's early successful exits for a buyout firm. Rite Aid will pay TPG about $1.8 billion in cash and $200 million in stock for EnvisionRx. The value of the deal also includes an expected future tax benefit of $275 million.

Macy's is planning a bit of a makeover, announcing on Tuesday that it had agreed to buy the beauty and spa chain Bluemercury for $210 million, a move that could help broaden the department store's customer base. Based in Washington, D.C., Bluemercury operates 60 stores in 18 states and has a growing e-commerce business. Macy's, which also owns the Bloomingdale's chain of department stores, said it also planned to bring some Bluemercury boutiques and products to some department store locations.

Staples announced Wednesday that it will acquire Office Depot for $6.3 billion, a move that merges the two largest chain stores selling office supplies. The deal comes as the retailers are seeing massive upheaval in their industry. Demand for paper-based office supplies is dwindling as more business functions move online, and a diverse array of competitors, including Amazon.com and Wal-Mart, are competing to sell these kinds of goods. Together, the brands would have about $39 billion in annual sales and about 4,000 stores. Staples CEO Ron Sargent said that a merger would help the brands compete more effectively.

Office-supply chains Staples and Office Depot are in advanced talks to merge, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The price and structure of the proposed deal couldn't be learned and there's no guarantee a deal will be reached, the newspaper reported. Staples has a market value of about $11 billion, while Office Depot has a market value of about $4.1 billion. Last month, activist investor Starboard Value LP called for the two companies to merge, saying a combined entity would lead to greater savings.

Shoebuy, a Boston-based e-commerce shoe retailer owned by IAC, has acquired a minority stake in e-commerce boot maker startup Boston Boot Co., marking the company's first foray into the footwear manufacturing business. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed. "Acquiring a minority stake in a shoe company presents us with a unique opportunity to both expand our business into a different side of the footwear industry and to provide a unique value for our customers," said Shoebuy CEO Mike Sorabella in an email. "This provides us with a chance to be innovative and play in the direct-to-consumer space."

The Great Recession hobbled the U.S. economy and crushed many businesses, but some companies thrived, including the so-called "dollar" stores. Shoppers flocked to them because you could buy a lot with not much money. And as the economy rebounds, people are still going to some. But one chain, Family Dollar, hasn't kept pace with its competitors. Shareholders of Family Dollar voted Thursday to sell to a rival chain, Dollar Tree, for $8.7 billion. In doing so, shareholders left a bigger offer from Dollar General on the table, citing antitrust fears. 

Brown Shoe, owner of the Famous Footwear retail chain, sold its Shoes.com online division to a closely held Seattle company pushing into a market led by Amazon.com and Foot Locker. Shoeme, parent of OnlineShoes.com and Shoeme.ca, is purchasing Shoes.com for an undisclosed price, the companies said in separate statements. The web domain name shoes.com alone is worth $630,000, according to siteprice.org, based on search engine visibility and traffic.