Retail

BLOOMBERG Vodafone Group Plc’s Spanish business is attracting takeover interest from potential buyers, including Apollo Global Management Inc, people with knowledge of the matter said. The British telecommunications group has been contacted by other financial and strategic suitors interested in the business, according to the people. While it’s not running a formal sale process for the unit, Vodafone would consider ...

BLOOMBERG Walmart Inc is betting on greater supply-chain automation and hinting that a recent investment binge might lift profit beyond the retailer’s stated long-term goals. Within three years, the unit cost of moving goods will fall 20% as warehouse robots play a larger role in speeding goods to customers, Walmart said. While the company reiterated its outlook for this year ...

BLOOMBERG French skincare giant L’Oréal SA has agreed to acquire luxury cosmetics brand Aesop, which was founded in Melbourne before developing a cult global following, for an enterprise value of $2.53 billion. The transaction caps months of negotiations as other companies, including private equity firm Permira and Chinese investment firm Primavera Capital also showed interest in the Australian brand, owned ...

BLOOMBERG McDonald’s Corp is temporarily closing its US offices as it notifies hundreds of corporate employees that they’re losing their jobs in a broader restructuring plan, according to a person familiar with the matter. The company is notifying affected employees virtually and will close the locations to provide confidentiality out of respect for those affected, said the person, who asked ...

BLOOMBERG Reeling from a collapse in its stock price and at the mercy of Wall Street banks, Bed Bath & Beyond Inc warned it will likely go bankrupt if a last-gasp $300 million equity offering fails. The retailer filed to sell new shares to stay afloat and repay creditors after a hedge-fund rescue effort faltered and as day traders — ...

BLOOMBERG Macy’s Inc Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jeff Gennette will retire in February after nearly seven years of navigating a difficult department-store landscape, ceding the position to Bloomingdale’s CEO Tony Spring. Spring, 58, who has been CEO at the high-end Bloomingdale’s chain since 2014 and joined the company in 1987, will serve as president of Macy’s until the 61-year-old Gennette’s ...

BLOOMBERG Lululemon Athletica Inc shares jumped after the company gave an annual outlook that surpassed analysts’ expectations, driven by high demand for activewear, even as it deals with nagging inventory issues that ate into margins. The stock rose 16% in early trading in New York. If the gain holds, it would be Lululemon’s biggest rise since March 2020. The retailer ...

BLOOMBERG Hong Kong’s biggest cosmetics chain plans to open just a handful of new stores this year after shutting dozens during the pandemic as doubts remain that the city will return to its pre-Covid heights as a shopping paradise. The cautious outlook from Sa Sa International Holdings Ltd reflects broader pessimism over the pace of the financial hub’s economic recovery ...

BLOOMBERG Steinhoff International Holdings NV failed to pass a plan to give creditors 80% of its equity as it sought to be released from its debt that is due at the end of June. Shareholders rejected all the resolutions that were voted on at the global retailer’s annual general meeting held in Amsterdam. The gathering lasted three hours because of ...

BLOOMBERG Jumia Technologies AG made a deal to sell French retailer Leroy Merlin’s products in West Africa, part of a plan to expand its reach and cut losses in half by the end of 2023. The Africa-focussed e-commerce giant will sell the French company’s tools and do-it-your-self products in Ivory Coast and Senegal, focussing on high-growth rural areas and smaller ...