Mergers & Acquisitions

Bedding retailer Mattress Firm has agreed to acquire Mattress Liquidators Inc., which operates stores under the Mattress King name in Colorado and the BedMart name in Arizona. The $35 million purchase will add about 75 stores to Mattress Firm’s stable of company-owned stores, and will boost the retailer’s presence in the key markets of Denver, Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz.

Etsy is acquiring Grand St., a curated marketplace that connects independent hardware makers with buyers. It's a sort of Quirky-Kickstarter-Etsy mashup that according to Etsy CEO Chad Dickerson shares Etsy's vision "the way making is changing." Co-founders Amanda Peyton, Joe Lallouz and Aaron Henshaw will join Etsy, but will continue to operate the Grand St. marketplace in the near term. Visitors to Grand St. have three options for getting their hands on the hardware under development by indie designer/sellers: preorder an item under development; beta test an item; or purchase goods that have made it to market.

If you have any doubts, just wake up and think about it. It's a win-win for both Jeff "Get Big Fast" Bezos and Eddie "Take the Money and Run" Lampert. Amazon.com gets roughly 2,400 U.S. stores (or "buildings") overnight (1,300 Sears, 1,100 Kmart). The acquisition becomes Bezos’ answer to omnichannel and the proven revenue synergy of consumers ability to shop online and offline; the convenience of proximity for pickup and returns; and facilitation of even greater delivery speed. So just as Walmart's 4,500 stores double as distribution centers, so would Amazon's acquired Sears/Kmart stores.

Wesley Card, the CEO of Jones Group, is to step down from his role as part of plans by Sycamore Partners to split the newly acquired company into four independent firms. Earlier this month, Jones Group shareholders overwhelmingly voted to approve the acquisition of the U.S. clothing and footwear company by private equity firm Sycamore Partners in a deal worth $2.2 billion. As a result, Sycamore has set out four plans for the businesses within the Jones Group, which it says will operate independently going forward. 

Rent-to-own (RTO) heavyweight Aaron's Inc. announced Tuesday it has acquired Progressive Finance Holdings, a provider of point-of-sale lease and purchase programs for consumers who don't qualify for traditional financing. Aaron's said the all-cash, $700 million purchase gives the company access to the rapidly growing "virtual" RTO market, and should boost earnings per share by double-digits this year. John Robinson, Progressive's CEO, will join Aaron's management team as executive vice president and report to Aaron's CEO Ronald Allen.

DSW is entering the Canadian market by buying a stake in Canadian footwear retailer Town Shoes. The discount footwear giant will acquire about a 44 percent interest in Town Shoes, a major Canadian footwear retailer, for $68 million Canadian dollars (about US $62 million) in cash. DSW is purchasing its initial stake from Alberta Investment Management Corp., which predominantly owns Town Shoes along with Canadian private equity firm Callisto Capital. DSW's initial stake provides 50 percent voting control and board representation, the company said. The transaction is expected to slightly add to DSW's earnings in 2014, excluding one-time transaction expenses.

Family Dollar said Thursday that it will close hundreds of stores and trim its workforce to cut costs after profits fell sharply in its most recent quarter. The company has struggled to keep up with its rivals in recent quarters. Thursday's poor financial results could revive speculation that Family Dollar might be a takeover target for a larger retailer. "Our second-quarter results didn't meet our expectations," said chief executive Howard Levine. "We're taking a number of important steps through our immediate strategic actions to improve our operational efficiency and deliver better financial returns."

Jones Group shareholders overwhelmingly voted to approve the company's merger with Sycamore Partners in a deal that values the firm at approximately $2.2 billion. The Jones Group Inc. and Sycamore Partners have received all requisite approvals required to complete the transaction. The companies are committed to a seamless transition and expect to close the transaction promptly. Wesley R. Card, The Jones Group CEO, said, "We're pleased to have received such positive shareholder support for the merger with Sycamore Partners. We believe this transaction represents the best outcome for The Jones Group, our shareholders and the loyal customers of our brands."

Alibaba Group is investing about $692 million in retail company Intime Retail with the aim of setting up a joint venture to provide links between its online and physical retail businesses in China. The Chinese e-commerce giant will invest $214 million in shares of Intime, besides acquiring $478 million in convertible bonds, according to a filing by Intime on Monday to the Hong Kong stock exchange. The equity investment will give Alibaba a 9.9 percent share of the enhanced share capital of the company.

J.Crew, the retail chain owned by TPG Capital and Leonard Green & Partners LP, reported a 42 percent drop in fourth-quarter profit amid a broader decline in shopping mall traffic. Net income tumbled to $5.92 million in the quarter, down from $10.2 million a year earlier, the New York-based company said yesterday. Still, revenue grew almost 7 percent to $686.2 million in the period, which ended Feb. 1. At the same time, the company is contemplating an initial public offering for later this year, according to people familiar with the matter.