Mergers & Acquisitions

Chinese e-commerce powerhouse Alibaba Group priced shares on Thursday for its upcoming initial public offering at $68 each, putting the finishing touches on what is to be the largest IPO for a U.S.-listed company ever. According to various reports on the day before the company expects to list shares on the New York Stock Exchange, Alibaba and its selling shareholders will raise a combined $21.8 billion, a figure that could rise to $25 billion if underwriters exercise an option to buy more shares at the IPO price. 

Investors are giving a nod of approval to news Monday that RadioShack's chief financial officer has stepped down amid flagging sales. However, one analyst has an even more drastic solution to the consumer electronic chain's turnaround woes: a takeover by Amazon.com. 

Rakuten agreed to buy U.S. rebates website Ebates in Japan's largest e-commerce deal on record as the operator of the country's biggest online mall seeks overseas growth through acquisitions. Rakuten will pay about $1 billion for all of Ebates, it said in a regulatory filing. San Francisco-based Ebates offers cash rebates to customers who buy products from the website's retail partners. The deal comes after Rakuten has announced 18 acquisitions since the start of last year, and the cybermall operator said in June it's open to more large-scale buys following its bond debut. 

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.