Mergers & Acquisitions

Golf Town and Golfsmith International Holdings announced that they've signed a definitive merger agreement, pursuant to which Golf Town will acquire Golfsmith, for $6.10 per share in cash. This represents a premium of 32.2 percent to Golfsmith stockholders based on the volume-weighted average closing prices of the company common stock on the 30 trading days immediately preceding this announcement. The closing of the acquisition is expected to occur in the third quarter of 2012. Upon the closing of the transaction, Martin Hanaka will assume the role of CEO of the combined company. 

American Greetings Corporation announced it has acquired all of the outstanding senior secured debt of Clinton Cards for approximately $56 million through a subsidiary in the United Kingdom. Clinton Cards, one of the largest specialty retailers of greetings cards in the U.K., has approximately 750 stores and annual revenues of approximately $600 million across its two primary retail brands, Clinton Cards and Birthdays. The legacy Clinton Cards business has been an important customer to American Greetings’ international business for approximately 40 years and is one of American Greetings' largest customers.

Bed Bath & Beyond announced plans to acquire home goods retailer Cost Plus for $495 million. The all-cash deal will close in the second quarter and Cost Plus will continue to operate as a subsidiary. The two home goods chains have worked together for two years, with Bed Bath & Beyond testing Cost Plus-style specialty food departments in several of its stores. That trend will accelerate after the acquisition. 

LuxeYard, the boutique luxury flash-sale site, announced that it signed an agreement to acquire LeatherGroups.com, the online division of Solana Beach, Calif.-based furniture retailer homeLOFT. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed. The transaction was led by LuxeYard CEO Braden Richter and coincides with the creation of an acquisitions team, which will be based in LuxeYard's New York office. The company is actively pursuing several other acquisitions as part of its effort to consolidate the flash-sale category and to reinvent the future of social and mobile e-commerce with its concierge buying and group buy technologies.

Barneys New York announced that it's reached an agreement with the company's largest lender, Perry Capital, its sponsor, Istithmar World, and certain of its other lenders to significantly reduce the company's debt and improve its capital structure. The transaction provides Barneys with significant financial flexibility to prioritize its investment in its operations and grow the business. As part of the agreement, Perry Capital and The Yucaipa Companies have partnered to convert debt for equity in order to reduce Barneys' long-term debt from $590 million to $50 million. As a result, Perry Capital has become the majority owner of Barneys.

Talbots said it's received a raised takeover offer of $214.6 million from private equity firm Sycamore Partners. The company also said it entered an exclusivity agreement with Sycamore, which will end on May 15. Talbots said Sycamore had offered to pay $3.05 per share — slightly higher than the $3.00 per share offer it made in December. Talbots’ board of directors said it continues to evaluate strategic alternatives. Talbots' fourth-quarter loss widened to $53.2 million, or 77 cents per share, from last year’s loss from continuing operations of $2.8 million, or 4 cents per share.

Walgreens announced it's completed its acquisition of certain assets of BioScrip’s community specialty pharmacies and centralized specialty and mail-service pharmacy businesses. The transaction represents a total deal value of approximately $225 million. “We welcome the BioScrip leaders and employees to the Walgreens family,” stated Kermit Crawford, Walgreens president pharmacy, health and wellness. “BioScrip’s clinically focused community specialty pharmacies and access to additional limited distribution drug therapies, combined with Walgreens' existing nationwide network of retail and health system pharmacies, creates a strong network of support for our core drug store business to provide specialty pharmacy solutions to our patients."

Frederick's of Hollywood announced today that it's retained Allen & Company, a New York-based investment bank, to assist its board of directors in evaluating and exploring a broad range of strategic alternatives, including but not limited to a sale of the company or a business combination.

Wolverine Worldwide announced that it, along with Blum Capital Partners and Golden Gate Capital, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Collective Brands. As part of the transaction, Wolverine will acquire Collective Brands’ Performance + Lifestyle Group, which consists of the Sperry Top-Sider, Saucony, Stride Rite and Keds brands. Adding these businesses to Wolverine's existing portfolio, which is led by Merrell, Hush Puppies, Wolverine, Sebago and Caterpillar Footwear, creates an even more powerful stable of lifestyle brands that positions the company for accelerated growth in both revenue and profits. 

Ascena Retail Group is buying Charming Shoppes, owner of Lane Bryant, for about $890 million, giving it access to the plus-size women’s clothing market. Charming Shoppes also runs Fashion Bug, Catherines Plus Sizes and the direct marketing business Figi’s. Ascena, owner of the dressbarn, maurices and Justice brands, will pay $7.35 for each Charming share. That's a 25 percent premium to Charming’s closing price of $5.90 Tuesday. Ascena’s cash tender offer should roll out within 10 business days.