Billionaire seeks to privatize lumber company Canfor Business briefs
Rite Aid picks former insurance executive as CEO
Rite Aid has chosen a former insurance executive to replace longtime CEO John Standley. Heyward Donigan, 58, is a former executive with Premera Blue Cross. She most recently served as CEO of Sapphire Digital, which runs a technology platform that helps people shop for care. Camp Hill, Pa.- based Rite Aid has nearly 2,500 drugstores. It lost $ 99.7 million in its first quarter.
Verizon sells early social media darling Tumblr
Verizon is selling Tumblr, a darling of early social media, to the owner of blogging platform WordPress. Verizon acquired Tumblr through its 2017 purchase of Yahoo, which bought Tumblr for $ 1.1 billion in 2013 but ended up writing off much of its value. Terms of Verizon’s sale to WordPress owner Automattic weren’t disclosed.
Versace, Givenchy, Coach apologize after T- shirt row
Luxury brands Coach and Givenchy joined Versace in apologizing to China for producing T- shirts that were regarded to have undermined the country’s sovereignty. The apparel, which identified the semiautonomous regions of Hong Kong and Macau as countries, set off backlash from Chinese consumers who perceived the designs as violations of the “One China” policy.
Mall of America owner gambles on huge N. J. project
The owner of the Mall of America has put up Minnesota’s signature retail destination as collateral in a high- stakes gamble on a new megaattraction. Triple Five Group pledged a 49% stake in the megamall as collateral to win a construction loan for its massive American Dream entertainment and retail complex in the New Jersey Meadowlands, a project slated to open in October.
BlackRock takes huge stake in parent of Sports Illustrated
BlackRock is taking a sizable stake in the parent of Sports Illustrated and the retail chains Nine West and Aeropostale, becoming the company’s largest shareholder. Financial terms were not disclosed. The Wall Street Journal cited anonymous sources who put the investment at $ 875 million, valuing the entertainment and marketing company at $ 4 billion, including debt. Authentic Brands Group has more than 50 brands and nearly $ 10 billion in annual global revenue.
Canadian billionaire Jim Pattison, whose conglomerate owns businesses including supermarkets, fisheries and billboards, offered to take lumber producer Canfor Corp. private for about 981.6 million Canadian dollars ($ 742 million). Mr. Pattison’s Great Pacific Capital Corp., which already owns 51% of Canfor, proposed buying out the remaining shares for CA$ 16 apiece, an 82% premium to the stock’s closing price Friday. Vancouver- based Canfor said it has formed a special committee of independent directors to review the offer.
Saudi Aramco readies for IPO with deal with India’s Reliance
Oil giant Saudi Aramco is set to buy 20% of Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries’ oil and chemicals business for about $ 15 billion in a deal that gives it further heft and diversity ahead of a longawaited IPO. For India, the preliminary agreement amounts to one of the country’s largest foreign direct investments.