Is change in store for Family Dollar?

• Position: Charlotte

Last summer, Credit Suisse reported increased market interest in a Family Dollar Stores Inc.-Dollar General Corp. merger because of the Matthews-based company's recent struggles. Combining them, the report said, would create a dominant retailer, reduce the risk of store oversaturation and create vast savings through synergies. That didn't seem to excite Dollar General's CEO, but since then Family Dollar has become even more enticing as an acquisition. In the quarter ended Aug. 31, which also ended its fiscal year, profit increased 26.3%, compared with the same quarter last year. Sales were up 5.8%, to $102.2 million. But same-store sales were flat, as were customer traffic and transactions. "Given the uncertainty of the operating environment and the near-term challenges our customer continues to face, we have taken a cautious approach to fiscal 2014," CEO Howard Levine told analysts in October. He cited the 16-day shutdown of the federal government last month, noting that more than half of the company's customers receive some sort of government aid. In 2011, New York-based Trian Fund Management LP bid $7.5 billion for Family Dollar, but the board rejected the offer, claiming it undervalued the company ("For What It's Worth," April 2011).

$600 million

Price New York-based Time Warner Cable Inc. agreed to pay for Charlotte-based DukeNet Communications LLC. The provider of data and high-capacity bandwidth was founded in 1994 by Charlotte-based Duke Energy Corp., which sold half the company to Greenwich, Conn.-based Alinda Capital Partners LLC in 2010 for $137 million. DukeNet's 8,700-mile fiber-optic network serves seven Southeastern states.

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