Mergers & Acquisitions

Investors embraced shares of Wayfair Inc. in their first day of public trading, driving the stock of the Boston online furniture and home goods retailer up more than 30 percent Thursday. Wayfair raised $319 million Wednesday evening when underwriters priced shares in its initial public offering at $29 each, above initial estimates. The stock jumped as soon as it began trading publicly Thursday and closed at $37.72, giving the company a total market value of $3.1 billion by the end of the day.

RadioShack, the electronics chain trying to stave off bankruptcy, reached an agreement with a consortium led by Standard General LP to refinance about $590 million of loans to restock inventory ahead of the holidays, a person familiar with the matter said. Standard General, a New York-based hedge fund, will lead a group of lenders to refinance debt outstanding under a $535 million asset-backed revolving credit line from GE Capital, the lending arm of General Electric Co., said the person, who asked not to be identified because the negotiations are private. 

Sears, sorely in need of cash, is selling most of its stake in its Canadian unit in an effort to raise up to $380 million. The sale of the majority of its 51 percent stake in Sears Canada Inc. to its own shareholders will give the retailer some breathing room as it heads into the crucial holiday season. The company board approved a rights offering of up to 40 million shares of Sears Canada Inc. Chairman and CEO Edward Lampert plans to fully exercise his subscription rights. 

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.