Walmart acquires last mile delivery platform (chainstoreage.com)

Total revenues across all categories for August 2023 were up 8.5% as compared to August 2022, coming in at $1.5 billion. Year-to-date revenues were up 0.6%, at $8.0 billion for the first eight months of the year. Trade (Consumer Books) revenues were up 8.9% in August, coming in at $785.0 million. In terms of physical paper format revenues during the month of August, in the Trade (Consumer Books) category, Hardback revenues were up 17.4%, coming in at $277.8 million; Paperbacks were up 8.9%, with $295.1 million in revenue; Mass Market was down 19.1% to $12.2 million; and Special Bindings were up 15.0%, with $19.6 million in revenue. eBook revenues were down 3.7% for the month as compared to August 2022 for a total of $87.1 million, and the Digital Audio format remained up at 5.7% for August, coming in at $68.2 million in revenue. Physical Audio was up 21.1% coming in at $1.3 million.

J. C. Penney Company, Inc. announced that it has entered into an asset purchase agreement with Brookfield Asset Management, Inc, Simon Property Group and a majority of the Company’s DIP and First Lien Lenders. Key terms of the APA are as follows: *Brookfield and Simon will acquire substantially all of JCPenney’s retail and operating assets (“OpCo”) through a combination of cash and new term loan debt. *The formation of separate property holding companies (“PropCos”), comprising 160 of the Company’s real estate assets and all of its owned distribution centers, which will be owned by the Company’s DIP and First Lien Lenders. *The OpCo and PropCos will enter into master leases with respect to the properties and distribution centers moved into the PropCos (the “Master Lease Agreement”). JCPenney, Simon and Brookfield, and the Majority Lender Group have reached agreement on all outstanding business points in the Master Lease Agreement.

Shutterfly announced it has closed its previously announced acquisition of Lifetouch, the national leader in school photography. The company financed the acquisition with the proceeds of an $825 million incremental term loan facility, which closed simultaneous with the acquisition. “We are thrilled to welcome Lifetouch to the Shutterfly family, and are excited to bring together two undisputed leaders in adjacent verticals, both of which have the common mission of helping customers share life’s joy through photos,” said Christopher North, President & Chief Executive Officer of Shutterfly. “We are focused on realizing the three value creation opportunities that we previously articulated: gaining access to many Lifetouch customers as Shutterfly customers, offering Shutterfly’s broader product range to Lifetouch customers and accelerating the development of Lifetouch’s online platform, and realizing significant supply chain, manufacturing, and fulfillment synergies over time.” Click Read More below for additional information.