-=Nielsen (NLSN) to be acquired for $16B by a private-equity consortium

The consortium led by Brookfield Asset Management (BAM) and Elliott Management will pay $28 a share in an all-cash transaction for Nielsen Holdings (NLSN). The offer comes after the media measurement company turned down a $25.40-a-share proposal just last week. The company didn’t name the suitors who made the offer last week. 

-=Oaktree Capital (OAK) : Brookfield (BAM) to acquire approximately 62% of the Oaktree business

Oaktree Capital: Brookfield (BAM) will acquire approximately 62% of the Oaktree business
Brookfield per unit (subject to pro-ration). The cash portion of the aggregate consideration will be funded by Brookfield from available liquidity. Upon consummation of the transaction, Brookfield will own approximately 62% of the Oaktree business, and the OCGH unitholders, consisting primarily of Oaktree's founders and certain other members of management and employees, will own the remaining approximately 38%.

• Brookfield will acquire all outstanding Oaktree Class A units for, at the election of Oaktree Class A unitholders, either $49.00 in cash or 1.0770 Class A shares of Brookfield per unit (subject to pro-ration).
• The two companies together will have ~$475 billion of assets under management and $2.5 billion of annual fee-related revenues, making this one of the leading alternative asset managers, with one of the most comprehensive suites of alternative investment products for investors worldwide. The transaction is expected to be accretive to Brookfield on a per share basis before any benefits from the combination

=J. C. Penney (JCP) reported earnings on Thur 28 Feb 19 (b/o)

• Update May 2020: JCPenney filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and in September 2020, Brookfield Asset Management and Simon Property Group agreed to purchase the company for around $800 million in cash and debt. The deal was approved by the U.S. bankruptcy court for the Southern District of Texas two months later.

 J. C. Penney reports EPS in-line, misses on revs, comps -6% on unshifted basis; expects free cash flow to be positive for FY19: names Michelle Wlazlo as chief merchant

• Reports Q4 (Jan) earnings of $0.18 per share, excluding non-recurring items, in-line with the S&P Capital IQ Consensus of $0.18; total net revenues fell 9.5% year/year to $3.67 bln vs the $3.75 bln S&P Capital IQ Consensus.
  • On a shifted basis, comps were -4.0% and on an unshifted basis, comps were -6.0%.
• Outlook: Co expects free cash flow to be positive for fiscal 2019. In terms of its Store Closures Update, the co will close 18 full-line stores in 2019, including the three locations previously announced in January. In addition, the co will also close 9 ancillary home and furniture stores, further aligning its brick-and-mortar presence with its omni-channel network. Comps for the closing stores were significantly below the remaining store base. Nearly all impacted stores are expected to close in 2the second quarter of 2019.
• Co also announces the appointment of Michelle Wlazlo, who will join the company as executive VP, chief merchant, reporting to CEO Jill Soltau. Most recently she served as senior VP of apparel and accessories merchandising at Target (TGT) where she helped lead the company's strategy and implementation of a robust merchandising program that included transforming the presentation of 1,400 stores and launching 15 new private brands. Co also announces that it has filled two additional key senior executive positions.

=Macy's (M) reported earnings on Thur 10 Nov 2016 (b/o)

Macy's misses by $0.24, reports revs in-line; reaffirms FY17 EPS guidance, improves comps guidance; discloses strategic alliance with Brookfield (BAM)  :

• Reports Q3 (Oct) earnings of $0.17 per share, $0.24 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.41; revenues fell 4.2% year/year to $5.63 bln vs the $5.63 bln Capital IQ Consensus.
• Comparable sales on an owned plus licensed basis were down by 2.7 percent in the third quarter. On an owned basis, third quarter comparable sales declined by 3.3 percent. The difference between the year-over-year change in total and comparable sales largely resulted from the closing of 41 underperforming Macy's stores at the end of fiscal 2015.
• "The trends we saw in the third quarter give us confidence that we can deliver our expectations for the fourth quarter and our guidance for fiscal 2016."
• Co updates guidance for FY17, continues to see EPS of $3.15-3.40 vs. $3.35 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate, now expects full-year 2016 comparable sales on an owned plus licensed basis to decrease in the range of 2.5 percent to 3.0 percent (Previously saw a decrease in the range of 3 percent to 4 percent), continues to see comparable sales on an owned basis to be approximately 50 basis points lower.
• The co also announced it is forming a strategic alliance with Brookfield Asset Management (BAM) to create increased value in its real estate portfolio.
  • Under the alliance, Brookfield will have an exclusive right for up to 24 months to create a "pre-development plan" for each of approximately 50 Macy's real estate assets, with an option for Macy's to continue to identify and add assets into the alliance. These assets primarily include owned and ground- leased stores and associated land, most of which are located in malls not owned by major mall owners. The breadth of opportunity within the portfolio ranges from the additional development on a portion of an asset (such as a Macy's-controlled land parcel adjacent to a store) to the complete redevelopment of an existing store.