Mergers & Acquisitions

Estée Lauder has decided to terminate a potential merger with Spanish beauty group Puig, reports CNBC. The American beauty giant, which owns the Clinique and Tom Ford Beauty brands, said in March that it was in discussions with Puig, the owner of Charlotte Tilbury and Jean Paul Gaultier, to combine the companies. However, Estée Lauder…

Online fast-fashion retailer Shein is said to be acquiring Everlane, the apparel brand known for its sustainability ethos, in a deal valuing the company at $100 million, according to a report by Puck News. While the transaction has not been confirmed by either party yet, Puck reported that majority owner L Catterton’s board of directors approved the sale this past…

eBay on Tuesday rejected GameStop’s $56 billion takeover proposal, calling the unsolicited bid “neither credible nor attractive,” reports CNBC. GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen last week unveiled an audacious bid for eBay, offering to acquire the online marketplace for $125 per share in a cash-and-stock deal. eBay is much larger than the video game retailer, with…

GameStop announced Sunday that it has made an unsolicited, nonbinding offer to acquire eBay for $125 per share in a cash-and-stock deal, valuing the e-commerce platform at roughly $55.5 billion, reports CNBC. The offer, split evenly between cash and GameStop common stock, represents a 20 percent premium to eBay’s Friday close of $104.07, and a…

Consolidation has long been a key growth strategy across retail and CPG. Big companies have spent decades buying up competitors, acquiring niche brands, and expanding into new categories. Why? Ideally, a large, varied portfolio would drive scale, diversification, market share, consumer trend alignment, and business growth. But as the industry evolves, are portfolio cracks starting…

Bed Bath & Beyond has entered into a definitive merger agreement to buy The Container Store in a transaction valued at $150 million. In a regulatory filing, the retailer said its newly created subsidiary, Falcon Merger Sub, will be merged into The Container Store, leaving the latter as a wholly owned unit of Bed Bath…

While dealmakers aren't stepping back from consumer mergers and acquisitions (M&A), they are getting more selective. New data from KPMG shows deal value jumped 52 percent in 2025, even as deal volume fell 7 percent. Early 2026 looks similar. New global consumer deals in the first two months of the year fell 6 percent year-over-year…

American Exchange Group, whose brand portfolio includes Aerosoles, has agreed to buy direct-to-consumer footwear brand Allbirds for about $39 million, reports Yahoo Finance. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2026. Allbirds once reached a peak valuation of $4.2 billion, filed an IPO in 2021, and had planned to open hundreds…

U.S. private ⁠equity ⁠firm KKR has signed a deal to acquire the bakery chain Nothing Bundt Cakes for over $2 billion, Reuters reported Wednesday. Nothing Bundt Cakes is currently owned by Roark Capital. The fast-growing, Dallas-based chain — made up of mostly franchises — was founded by Dena Tripp and Debbie Schetz in 1997, and…

Destination XL Group and FullBeauty have agreed to combine in what the companies described as a “merger of equals,” bringing together a publicly listed brick-and-mortar retailer with a large private online platform focused on extended sizes. As part of the deal, FullBeauty will be folded into a newly created subsidiary of Destination XL, which will…