Retail

Bloomberg Activist investor Jonathan Litt is threatening a proxy fight next year at Taubman Centers Inc if the US mall owner doesn’t take steps to improve its performance, including exiting Asia or divesting its top-performing properties. Litt said in a letter to shareholders that he planned to nominate directors at the 2020 meeting unless the company makes “meaningful progress.” “Their …

Bloomberg Hudson’s Bay Co has tried everything to appease shareholders, from cutting costs to selling off assets. None of it has halted the stock’s steady decline, so Chairman Richard Baker is stepping in with a cash bid valued at about C$1.74 billion ($1.31 billion) to take the company private. Baker is teaming up with investors, including Rhone Capital LLC and …

Bloomberg Chanel Inc has become the latest retail giant to make a public nod towards environmentally conscious products, investing in a “green” chemistry company as part of an effort to make luxury items less damaging to the planet. Both the apparel and cosmetics industries are major sources of waste, and chemicals often used to make fabrics and skincare products — …

Bloomberg When Greg Hayes took the reins at United Technologies Corp in late 2014, the newly minted CEO said he would pursue huge deals to reshape the industrial conglomerate. He’s been true to his word, though not without a little pressure from activist investors pushing for a transformation. Since late last year, he has completed the acquisition of Rockwell Collins …

Bloomberg Ocado Group Plc is investing in a pair of vertical-farming ventures as the UK maker of online retail technologies branches out following its mammoth deal with Marks & Spencer Group. The company said it bought a 58 percent stake in Jones Foods Co, Europe’s largest operating vertical farm, based in Scunthorpe, England. Ocado will use its know-how in automation …

Bloomberg An influential New York Democrat has written to Amazon.com Inc asking about a report that the company plans to cease wholesale orders from thousands of smaller suppliers. US Representative Nydia Velazquez, chairwoman of the House Committee on Small Business, wrote to Amazon Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos asking about the nature of his company’s relationship with small suppliers, whether …

Bloomberg Starbucks Corp this month will begin a first-of-its kind trial of reusable cups at London’s Gatwick airport. People drink a lot of coffee at airports. Gatwick says it already recycles a majority of the 7 million disposable coffee cups that travellers use each year. The airport wants to improve on that, and reusable cups potentially have a lower carbon …

Bloomberg Fosun International Ltd’s tourism unit is in talks to buy Thomas Cook Group Plc’s tour-operating business, Sky News reported. Hong Kong-listed Fosun is already Thomas Cook’s biggest shareholder and is working with JPMorgan Chase & Co on the potential offer. Discussions are at an early stage and it isn’t certain a bid will emerge, Sky said, citing people it …

Bloomberg Steinhoff International Holdings NV’s financial scandal and sugar maker Tongaat Hulett Ltd’s admission it may need to restate results is spurring South African auditors to weigh tougher measures for the profession. While auditors are expected to reassure the public that the financial statements they have signed off are reliable, the standards used don’t require them to uncover wrongdoing. That …

Bloomberg Tiffany & Co’s US sales to Chinese tourists fell by more than 25 percent last quarter, a trend that’s worsening as a trade war escalates between the two countries. The jeweller first started seeing cracks in tourist spending a year ago, and it has further deteriorated over the past three quarters. Company executives said on a conference call that …