Mergers & Acquisitions

Old brands don't die, they just retire to Vermont. The Vermont Country Store, that is, which bills itself as the "Purveyors of the Practical and Hard-to-Find." About 15 million U.S. households are hearing the thunk of its catalog hitting their mailboxes this Christmas, its pages packed with generations of venerable products from Jubliee kitchen wax and Lifebuoy soap to Turkish Taffy to Postum — even Fuller Brush products. A trip through its print or web pages is a trip down memory lane. Just check the comments section.

Fifth & Pacific is selling Lucky Brand Jeans for $225 million so that it can better focus on its Kate Spade brand. The New York company, formerly known as Liz Claiborne, has been selling off parts of its business over the past few years. Before announcing the sale Tuesday to an affiliate of private equity firm Leonard Green & Partners LP, it sold its Juicy Couture brand in October to Authentic Brands Group for $195 million. The Lucky deal includes $140 million in cash and $85 million as a three-year seller note. 

Grainger, a broad-line supplier of maintenance, repair and operating products serving businesses and institutions, today acquired Safety Solutions Inc., a Dublin, Ohio-based distributor of safety footwear, supplies and services with a strong focus on the manufacturing sector. In 2012, Safety Solutions Inc. had sales of $63 million. The terms of the deal weren't disclosed. Including integration costs, Grainger expects the acquisition to be slightly dilutive to earnings in 2014 and slightly accretive in 2015.

Forget Black Friday. When it comes to selling suits and ties, the appropriate colors are apparently black and blue. Men's Wearhouse, which recently fought off a hostile bid from smaller rival Jos. A. Bank, announced its own $1.5 billion bid for Jos. A Bank this morning. Men's Wearhouse said in a statement that it evaluated a number of alternatives after Jos. A. Bank took its unsolicited offer public on Oct. 9. Men's Wearhouse concluded that an acquisition of Jos. A. Bank made the most sense. Men's Wearhouse is offering $55 a share in cash. 

Jos. A. Bank Clothiers terminated its unsolicited $2.3 billion takeover offer for rival men's clothing retailer Men's Wearhouse, though left the door open for the potential of future acquisition talks. Jos. A. Bank had said it would drop its buyout offer if Men's Wearhouse's board didn't engage in negotiations by Thursday. "Jos. A. Bank continues to believe that a transaction could be in the best interest of the respective shareholders of the two companies," Jos. A. Bank said in a statement early Friday.

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia and eBay have partnered to present the Martha Stewart American Made Market, exclusively on eBay, an online marketplace that will spotlight makers, support artisans and celebrate the handmade. Curated by Martha Stewart and her team at Martha Stewart Living, the American Made Market will honor a new generation of great American entrepreneurs with a curated e-commerce experience that will include products in categories such as crafts, food, garden, and more. The Martha Stewart American Made Market on eBay is an extension of Martha Stewart's American Made program, which celebrated its second year this fall.

Under Armour is buying the popular workout application company MapMyFitness for $150 million, putting the sports apparel maker in charge of one of the biggest social sports communities on mobile devices. The Baltimore-based company says it agreed to buy the app maker to broaden its existing digital offerings and augment plans to become a premiere sports company. MapMyFitness, which launched in 2007 and is based in Austin, Tex., counts 20 million registered users, 9 million of which use its service on a monthly basis and 700,000 of which use it daily.

Men's Wearhouse rejected Jos. A. Bank Clothiers latest effort to acquire it, denying the retailer's request to review nonpublic company information. The board of Houston-based Men's Wearhouse decided that providing such access isn't in its shareholders’ best interest, the company announced Monday. It rejected Jos. A. Bank's $2.3 billion acquisition offer in October, saying it undervalued the men's apparel chain.

The top job at a combined Office Depot and OfficeMax won't belong to Neil Austrian or Ravi Saligram, but neither office-supply company chief executive will go away empty-handed. If the merger closes as expected, each will collect millions as they exit their respective companies and a new CEO is appointed. Austrian, who is retiring from Office Depot, will get $15 million to $16 million in a "golden parachute," depending on the stock price at closing. OfficeMax's Saligram is expected to reap about $13.5 million, said Aaron Boyd, director of governance research at Equilar, an executive compensation data firm.

CVSL, a direct-selling company run by Mary Kay Inc.'s former chairman, has offered to buy Blyth Inc. for about $268 million, two people with knowledge of the matter said. CVSL offered to pay $16.75 a share for Blyth, which sells candles, fragrances and ViSalus weight-loss products, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. The offer, which was extended last week, could be made public by CVSL as soon as today, one of the people said. Blyth rose 21 percent to close at yesterday, giving it a market value of $248.2 million.