WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CALIF. — Musical instrument retailer Guitar Center has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The Westlake Village-based company did not announce plans to close any of its 297 stores, but it has retained A&G Real Estate Partners to explore opportunities for its real estate portfolio. In court filings, Guitar Center cited its business of instrument purchases, rentals, repairs and music lessons suffered amid the upheaval stemming from government-mandated shutdowns in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to The New York Times. Approximately 75 percent of its stores were shuttered at one point in the spring. Additionally, the company cited its “significant debt burden” in the court filings. In addition to Guitar Center stores, the company operates four sister brands: Music & Arts, Musician’s Friend, Woodwind & Brasswind and AVDG. Music & Arts, a Maryland-based chain that Guitar Center acquired in 2005, operates 200 stores and 300 affiliate locations that provide band and orchestra instruments and equipment for sale or rentals. Musician’s Friend, which Guitar Center acquired in 1999, is a direct marketer of musical instruments. Likewise Woodwind & Brasswind is a catalogue musical instrument merchant with a …
NEW YORK CITY — Private equity firm Regis Group and funds managed by Los Angeles-based Ares Management Corp. (NYSE: ARES) have formed Haven Capital, an entity that will specialize in the origination of ground leases for high-quality assets across the country. Structured as a joint venture between the two firms, Haven Capital aims to capitalize on ground-lease investments in the top 50 U.S. markets with an initial capacity of $1 billion. Company founders cited the attractiveness of ground leases in separating land and buildings while reducing equity requirements and total costs of capital as a major incentive behind the formation of Haven Capital. Joe Shanley, a former vice president at SL Green, will lead the company.
SEATTLE — Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) has launched two pharmacy offerings — Amazon Pharmacy and Amazon Prime prescription savings benefit — enabling customers to purchase and complete prescription medication transactions, as well as access savings on medications when paying without insurance, through the Amazon website or its mobile app. Starting this week, customers age 18 or older will have access to Amazon Pharmacy services in 45 states, excluding Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana and Minnesota. The pharmacy service will accept most forms of insurance and offer discounts on generic and brand-name medications when paying without insurance. As of close on Tuesday, Nov. 17, Amazon shares rose 0.15 percent to $3,135.66. However, stocks of national pharmacies tumbled following the company’s announcement. CVS/pharmacy dropped 8.6 percent, Walgreens lost 9.6 percent and Rite Aid dipped 16.3 percent. Additionally, GoodRx, which helps customers find the best prices on medications, slid 22.5 percent.
ATLANTA — The Home Depot (NYSE: HD) has reported that its third-quarter sales reached $33.5 billion, a 23.2 percent increase over third-quarter sales for 2019. Net earnings for the third quarter were $3.4 billion, or $3.18 per diluted share, compared with net earnings of $2.8 billion, or $2.53 per diluted share, in the same fiscal period of 2019. The Atlanta-based retailer’s third quarter ended on Oct. 31. Chairman and CEO Craig Menear cited demand for home improvement projects in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic as a steady driver for increased sales. Menear says sales have reached $15 billion through the first nine months of the company’s fiscal year. As of the end of its third quarter, Home Depot operated 1,986 stores in the United States and territories. In addition to reporting third-quarter earnings, The Home Depot also announced it will invest $1 billion in permanent compensation for hourly associates. Throughout the pandemic, the company has taken actions to support its employees, including temporary weekly bonuses and offering extended paid time off. The Home Depot’s stock price closed Monday at $279.96 per share, up from $238.85 a year ago.
BENTONVILLE, ARK. — Walmart (NYSE: WMT) has reported that its third-quarter e-commerce sales grew 79 percent from the same period a year ago. Comparable sales, defined as those from stores that operated during the entire 12-month fiscal year, went up 6.4 percent. The Bentonville-based retailer’s revenue during its fiscal third quarter reached $134.7 billion, a 5.2 percent increase over the same time period a year ago. Walmart’s third quarter ended on Oct. 31. The company’s stock price closed Monday at $152.69 per share, up from $120.25 per share one year ago.
HOUSTON — Francesca’s Holdings Corp. will close 140 stores throughout the country by Jan. 30, 2021, the Houston-based women’s apparel and accessories retailer announced on Monday. According to The Wall Street Journal, the 140 shuttered stores represent about 20 percent of the company’s total store count. Francesca’s also said that if the company is unable to raise sufficient capital to continue funding operations and paying obligations, it will likely seek to restructure its debt load by filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Francesca’s stock price opened at $3.53 per share on Tuesday, Nov. 17, down from $15.91 per share a year ago.
PITTSBURGH AND HOUSTON — PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (NYSE: PNC) and Spanish financial institution Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. (NYSE: BBVA) have signed a definitive agreement for PNC to acquire BBVA’s American operations, BBVA USA Bancshares Inc., for $11.6 billion. The transaction, which has been approved by both companies’ boards of directors, is expected to close in mid-2021, subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals. The transaction will bolster PNC’s national presence and create the fifth-largest bank in the United States, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. PNC will move beyond Charlotte-based Truist, the newly formed merger of equals between BB&T and SunTrust Bank. Houston-based BBVA USA Bancshares manages $104 billion in assets and provides commercial and retail banking services through its banking subsidiary BBVA USA. The bank operates 637 branches in Texas, Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado and New Mexico. PNC operates 2,300 bank branches and nearly 18,000 partner ATMs nationwide. As of Sept. 30, 2020, PNC had $300 billion of assets under administration. When combined with PNC’s banking footprint, the expanded company will have a coast-to-coast franchise with a presence in 29 of the 30 largest markets in the United States. “Our acquisition of BBVA USA will accelerate …
INDIANAPOLIS AND BLOOMFIELD HILLS, MICH. — Simon Property Group (NYSE: SPG) and Taubman Centers Inc. (NYSE: TCO) have modified their merger agreement to include a new purchase price of $43 per share, enabling Simon to proceed with its acquisition of an 80 percent interest in Taubman. CNBC reports that the decline in the agreed-upon share price from $52.50 per share effectively reduces the price tag of the deal by $800 million. This announcement comes just as the two regional mall REITs were set to square off in Circuit Court for the Sixth Judicial District of Oakland County (Michigan), litigation that has since been settled. Analysts at Piper Sandler, a Minnesota-based investment banking firm, expressed surprise at the ability of the two owner-operators to resolve the price disagreement ahead of today’s court hearing. “We thought any settlement or price cut would occur after the judge’s ruling,” the firm wrote. “Ultimately, Simon Property Group saves approximately $700 million in cash on the recut of the deal, offset by obligatory legal fees, which totaled $18 million in the third quarter. The pushing of the closing until late 2020 or early 2021 is also better timed for the economic recovery.” “For Taubman, the outcome is …
SOUTH PLAINFIELD, N.J. — Americold Realty Trust (NYSE: COLD), an Atlanta-based cold storage REIT, has acquired Hall’s Warehouse Corp. of South Plainfield, New Jersey, in a transaction valued at $480 million. The Hall’s Warehouse portfolio consists of eight cold storage facilities totaling 58 million cubic feet and 200,000 pallet positions that are located throughout Northern New Jersey. The portfolio was approximately 95 percent leased at the time of sale. Americold, which also announced the development of an $84 million facility in Arkansas, now owns and operates 185 temperature-controlled warehouses with over 1 billion refrigerated cubic feet of storage throughout five countries.
NEWPORT BEACH, CALIF. — Chipotle Mexican Grill plans to launch a digital restaurant concept dubbed Chipotle Digital Kitchen. Customers will be required to order in advance via the Chipotle app, website or third-party delivery service; there will not be a dining area or line to order food. The Newport Beach-based restaurant chain says the footprint is designed for urban areas but will open its first location near West Point Academy in Highland Falls, New York, on Saturday, Nov. 14. The announcement of the restaurant opening comes on the heels of the company’s third-quarter earnings report, which showed Chipotle’s digital sales tripled year-over-year. Furthermore, online sales accounted for nearly half (48.8 percent) of total sales for the quarter, which ended Sept. 30.