An activist investor is pushing department store chain Kohl’s to either sell the entire company or spin off its e-commerce division. In a letter posted online on Monday, Engine Capital said that it wants the Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin-based retailer to consider these alternatives to boost the stock price. Engine Capital said that if the company chose spinning off its e-commerce division, a move similar to what Saks did earlier this year, the stand-alone business could be valued at $12.4 billion or more. That amount dwarfs the company’s current market capitalization. Kohl says the board and management team “continuously examine all opportunities for maximizing shareholder value."
The cost of financing a home surged again this week as the average long-term U.S. mortgage rate climbed to its highest level since December 2000, further dimming the affordability outlook for many would-be homebuyers.
A commercial fisherman accused of conspiring with others to sell 200,000 pounds (90,000 kilos) of fish in excess of legal quotas has been convicted in federal court in New York.