Mergers & Acquisitions

Family Dollar is rejecting Dollar General's latest acquisition offer, and Dollar Tree says it will now divest as many stores as needed to get antitrust clearance for its deal to buy Family Dollar. Family Dollar rejected an earlier offer of nearly $9 billion from Dollar General, with the Goodlettsville, Tennessee, discounter then boosting its bid to $9.1 billion. Family Dollar said Friday that it still has antitrust concerns. Family Dollar Stores accepted an $8.5 billion deal with Dollar Tree Inc. in July. The two companies said Friday that they anticipate the transaction closing as early as the end of November.

The Mattress Firm Holding Corporation, one of the country's biggest sellers of Sealy and Serta mattresses, has agreed to acquire a West Coast rival, the Sleep Train chain, for about $425 million, solidifying its position as the biggest mattress retailer in the country. The deal will create a larger competitor to face off against department stores and online powerhouses like Amazon.com, but the combined company plans to continue to operate both brands. Sleep Train operates about 310 stores, mostly in California, Oregon and other Western states. The company, which is private, had revenue of $471 million last year.

AutoZone today announced it's entered into a definitive agreement to purchase Interamerican Motor Corporation (IMC). Founded in 1962, IMC, which currently operates 17 locations, is the second largest distributor of original equipment-quality import replacement parts in the United States. The company has been committed to offering an extensive parts line for all European and Asian cars. "We're excited about the IMC team joining AutoZone," said Bill Rhodes, chairman, president and CEO of AutoZone. "The company's leadership in import car parts coverage will be an exceptional fit with AutoZone's current product assortment."

Dollar General Corp. raised its bid for smaller Family Dollar Stores to $9.1 billion and is willing to divest twice as many locations to ease antitrust concerns after the retailer's first proposal was rejected for a lower offer. Dollar General bid $80 a share in cash for Matthews, North Carolina-based Family Dollar, compared with an offer of $78.50 made two weeks ago. The company also said today it would sell as many as 1,500 locations, up from 700 in its previous approach, and pay Family Dollar $500 million if the the deal fails on antitrust grounds. 

Already one of the biggest providers of flower deliveries, 1-800-Flowers.com now wants to add Royal Riviera pears and Moose Munch snacks to its offerings. The flower delivery company agreed on Tuesday to buy Harry & David, the purveyor of gift baskets, for $142.5 million in cash. Under the terms of the deal, 1-800-Flowers would continue to run Harry & David as a subsidiary, with the current management staying on. The deal comes more than three years after Harry & David filed for bankruptcy, a response to recession-related shopping woes. Since then, the retailer has increased both sales and earnings.

Dollar General met Wall Street expectations with its second-quarter earnings and its plan to continue a bid to acquire competitor Family Dollar Stores. Dollar General said its second quarter net income rose more than 2 percent to $251 million. In the same period last year, the discount retail chain had net income of $245 million. Sales totaled $4.7 billion, up about 7 percent over $4.4 billion a year ago. And even though Family Dollar earlier this month rejected a bid from its larger competitor, Dollar General CEO and Chairman Rick Dreiling said the company remains focused on sealing that deal.

Activist investor Engine Capital wants women's apparel retailer ANN Inc. to sell itself, which it believes could fetch around $2.5 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Engine Capital, which along with a partner controls more than 1 percent of Ann stock, believes a strategic or private-equity buyer would be willing to pay between $50 and $55 a share for the women's retailer, the Journal reported. 

Family Dollar is rebuffing Dollar General's takeover bid, citing antitrust issues. The discounter's board supports its existing merger with Dollar Tree. Family Dollar Stores Inc. Chairman and CEO Howard Levine said in a statement Thursday that its board and advisers reviewed Dollar General's offer and determined it wasn't reasonably likely to be completed on the terms proposed. Dollar General declined to comment. Family Dollar became a takeover target in part because of its business struggles. The Matthews, N.C.-based company has been shuttering stores and cutting prices in hopes of boosting its financial performance. 

Blake Mycoskie built TOMS into a darling of the retail industry in large part by selling simple canvas espadrilles and a unique charitable donation plan. Mycoskie, who announced on Wednesday that he was selling half of TOMS to Bain Capital, is now betting that he can continue balancing the charitable and commercial parts of the company he founded eight years ago. The deal, which is said to value TOMS at about $625 million, including debt, shows the continued rise of one of the more unusual stories of the fashion world. 

Online home furnishings retailer Wayfair has filed for a $350 million public offering of stock. The Boston-based company, which said its revenues were up 52 percent last year and almost 50 percent in the first half of this year, was founded in 2002 by Niraj Shah and Jeff Conine. They still each own 29 percent of the company, according to Wayfair's IPO filing with the SEC. Other owners include Great Hill Partners with an 11.4 percent stake, Battery Ventures with 6.2 percent and HarbourVest Partners with 7 percent. Wayfair's brands include Wayfair.com, Birch Lane, DwellStudio, AllModern.com, and Joss & Main.