Mergers & Acquisitions

eBay is where you go to hunt down a mint $150,000 Joe DiMaggio baseball card, retro bathing suits and a $6 Nickelback CD. But when it comes to browsing for bargains, the venerable 17-year-old tech company, which along with Amazon.com helped pioneer online shopping, is looking downright dowdy. Hoping to update its own look, eBay announced it's acquired product discovery site Svpply. Pricing details weren't disclosed by either company.

Neiman Marcus has partnered with Visa to test a mobile program that connects shoppers to real-time offers from the national retailer. The new program, nmbuzz, delivers offers, up-to-the-minute fashion news from Neiman Marcus experts, and insider updates on sneak previews and designer appearances directly to the mobile phones of Neiman Marcus customers who enroll with their eligible Visa account.

Online marketing solutions provider LivePerson has created an infographic outlining the top four ways to acquire more customers. The infographic includes high-impact data compiled by numerous research organizations such as Forrester, eMarketer, RSR and SeeWhy.

Francois-Henri Pinault is finally ready to end his fling with plus-size fashions. The French billionaire jet-setter — whose luxury conglomerate PPR failed to unload its troubled Redcats catalog unit last year — is close to selling the profitable U.S. division of Redcats, The Post has learned. Redcats USA owns a stable of plus-size clothing catalogs and websites called OneStopPlus, which form the bulk of its business, sources told The Post.

David's Bridal will be sold to private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in a deal that values the wedding dress retailer at $1.05 billion, the private equity firm announced on Tuesday. David's Bridal, a 300-store chain with a 60-year history, offers moderately priced wedding gowns and accessories, and in recent years has increased its higher-end offerings, including a line designed by Vera Wang.

The New York Times reported Thursday about Allen Questrom's on-air visit with CNBC for its Fast Money Halftime Report, during which the former J.C. Penney CEO was very candid about his disapproval of new chief Ron Johnson's approach to leadership.

Talbots is expected to unveil new management for the classic women's clothing retailer this week after a finalized buyout of the Hingham, Mass.-based company triggered CEO Trudy Sullivan's resignation. Sycamore Partners expected to complete its purchase of the struggling Talbots last week. The New York private equity firm said it completed its tender offer for the classic women's clothing retailer that expired Thursday night and left Sycamore in control of 83.6 percent of Talbots’ outstanding shares.

Richard Schulze, the founder of Best Buy, wants to buy the company for $24 to $26 per share in a deal that would value the company at more than $8 billion. CNBC's David Faber has the details.

Canadian home improvement company Rona Inc. said Tuesday that it rejected a C $14.50 (U.S. $14.21) per share offer made by Lowe's to acquire the company. Rona said after careful consideration the offer, which values the company at about C$1.89 billion (U.S. $1.85 billion), wasn't in its own or shareholders’ best interest. "Rona's strategic focus remains to execute on its business plan with a view to capturing the significant opportunities that it sees for the business," Rona said in a statement.

The American private equity group TPG Capital has made a $715 million takeover offer for Billabong International, the Australian surfwear company announced Tuesday. It's the second time this year that TPG of Texas has tried to buy Billabong. The surfwear company said TPG International, a unit of TPG Capital, was offering 694.6 million Australian dollars in cash for all of its outstanding shares.