Mergers & Acquisitions

Australian swimwear and surfing goods maker Billabong rejected a $766 million takeover proposal from TPG Capital and countered by announcing the sale of part of its youth brand Nixon, among other moves to cut debt and boost its performance. 

Perry Ellis International announced that it's completed the purchase of the intellectual property rights of the Ben Hogan family of brands from Callaway Golf Co. Perry Ellis will also assume all license arrangements, including South Korea and Japan, for apparel and accessories under the Ben Hogan brand name.

BioScrip said it will sell certain assets of its community specialty pharmacies and centralized specialty and mail service pharmacy businesses to Walgreens for about $225 million.

Home Depot has acquired home services marketplace Redbeacon in a move set to tighten the retailer's customer relationships while opening up new markets. The deal's financial terms have yet to be disclosed.

Steve Madden inked a deal to acquire all the assets of SM Canada, which include Steve Madden Canada, Steve Madden Retail Canada, Pasa Agency and Gelati Imports. The purchase price is $29 million, subject to a working capital adjustment, plus certain earn-out provisions based on financial performance through March 31, 2017.

The rights to Casa.com have been transferred to Amazon, indicating the e-commerce giant's next dedicated vertical shop may be a home decor site. Amazon's Quidsi network of sites already runs diapers.com for baby goods, wag.com for pets and soap.com for soap.

Best Buy has completed the acquisition of mindShift Technologies. The acquired firm will operate under its current name, management team and capabilities, which include approximately 500 employees. According to a press release, mindSHIFT has been providing IT outsourcing and cloud managed services for small and mid-size businesses for more than 10 years.

Shares of Barnes & Noble plunged 17 percent after the book retailer said it's evaluating the possible sale of its Nook e-reader and tablet business. The company also said that as a result of investments in growing its Nook business and slow sales of its $99 Nook Simple Touch e-reader — which competes with rival Amazon's Kindle e-reader — it expects to post a loss for the year of $1.10 to $1.40 a share.

Strengthening its "dual identity" as both a retailer and a software owner/developer, Wal-Mart's digital technology division @WalmartLabs has purchased Small Society, a mobile app developer that has created iOS applications for companies including Whole Foods, Starbucks and Zipcar.

Barnes & Noble has put Sterling Publishing up for sale nearly a decade after it bought the publishing house. The move was another sign that Barnes & Noble, the nation's largest bookstore chain, has intensified its focus on the digital side of the book business by shedding other assets.