REUTERSA consortium backed by activist hedge fund Starboard Value LP has offered roughly $9 billion to buy department store Kohl's Corp., according to people familiar with the matter. A group led by Acacia Research Corp., which Starboard controls, offered to buy the department-store chain for $64 a share in cash Friday, the people said. Reuters reported earlier last week that Acacia was exploring a possible bid for Kohl's. Activists have proposed that Kohl's explore sale-leasebacks of its real estate, which they have estimated could be worth $7 billion or more. Before Starboard invested in the firm and joined its board in 2019, Acacia was primarily a holding company for patents.

Source: Wall Street Journal January 24, 2022 01:46 UTC