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Dollar Tree Inc. said Monday that Gary Philbin was promoted to chief executive, effective today. He has been enterprise president, with responsibilities for both Family Dollar and Dollar Tree since January 2017. In July 2015, he became president and chief operating officer of Family Dollar, upon acquisition of that company. He has been with Dollar Tree since 2001. He succeeds Bob Sasser who assumes the role of executive chairman of the board. Sasser has served as CEO since 2004. Dollar Tree says that, during his tenure, the company has grown to 180,000 employees, more than 14,500 stores and 24 distribution centers across North America from 18,000 employees, fewer than 1,200 stores and four distribution centers. Dollar Tree shares are unchanged in premarket trading, and up 8.2% for the year so far. The S&P 500 index is up 11.7% for 2017 to date.

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Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. said Monday it has agreed to sell its specialty global women’s health business assets for $1.38 billion. The drug maker plans to use the proceeds of the sale, combined with the $1.1 billion it received from the recent sale of its Paragard IUD asset announced last week, to pay down debt. In Monday’s deal, Teva is selilng a portfolio of products in contraception, fertility, menopause and osteoporosis to CVC Capital Partners Fund VI for $703 million, and its Plan B One-Step and emergency contraception brands to Foundation Consumer Healthcare for $675 million. Teva said its recent moves reinforce its focus on central nervous system and respiratory areas. The stock, which rose 0.6% in premarket trade, has tumbled 41.5% over the past three months through Friday, while the SPDR S&P Pharmaceuticals ETF has gained 3.5% and the S&P 500 has tacked on 2.8%.

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Henry Schein Inc. said early Monday that its board of directors has authorized a share buyback of up to $400 million. The company previously announced a $400 million share buyback program last fall, of which about $25 million remains. Company shares were not active in premarket trade Monday. Shares have declined 9.3% over the last three months, compared with a 2.8% rise in the S&P 500 .

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Restoration Robotics has set the terms of its planned initial public offering and will sell 3.125 million share priced at $7 to $9 a pop. The company is planning to list on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol ”
HAIR”. The company is a medical technology maker that is developing and commercializing a robotic device, the ARTAS System, that assists doctors in performing many of the repetitive tasks that are a part of a follicular unit extraction surgery, a type of hair restoration procedure, according to its prospectus. National Securities Corp. is sole bookrunner on the deal, with Roth Capital Partners and Craig-Hallum Capital Group acting as co-managers.

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Victoria’s Secret parent L Brands Inc. said Monday it launched a new $250 million share repurchase program. The new program includes $10.3 million remaining from the previous $250 million program. L Brands has struggled of late as its Victoria’s Secret brand may be falling out of favor in a challenging and changing retail environment. Shares of the retail store operator, which brands also include Bath & Body Works and Henri Bendel, which were inactive in premarket trade, have tumbled 38% year to date, while the SPDR S&P Retail ETF has lost 6.5% and the S&P 500 has gained 12%.

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Shares of Israeli biotech Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. jumped 11% in premarket trade Monday, after the company was awarded fast-track designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a treatment for
Critical Limb Ischemia, or CLI. The FDA was weighing in on a late-stage trial of PLX-PAD cells for CLI in patients who are not eligible for revascularization. In CLI, fatty deposits block arteries in the leg, reducing blood flow and causing leg pain, non-healing ulcers and gangrene. Patients suffering from the disease often require amputation or they can die. About five to six million people in the U.S. and Europe suffer from CLI, and the number is expected to grow as more patients get diabetes. Pluristem stock has fallen about 6% in 2017 through Friday to $1.34, while the S&P 500 has gained about 12%.

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Itron Inc. said Monday it agreed to buy internet-of-things company Silver Spring Networks Inc. in a deal valued at $830 million. Under terms of the agreement, Silver Spring shareholders will received $16.25 in cash for each share they own, which represents a 25% premium to Friday’s closing price of $13. Itron expects the deal to produce synergies of $50 million a year, add to gross margin in the first year after the deal closes and add to adjusted earnings per share in the second year. Itron plans to pay for the deal, which is expected to close in late 2017 or early 2018, with cash and $750 million in new debt. Silver Spring’s stock, which was halted for news, has run up 23.5% over the past three months, while Itron shares have gained 5.0% and the S&P 500 has tacked on 2.8%.

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Shares Ultra Petroleum Corp. rallied 2.3% in light premarket trade Monday, after the oil and gas company’s largest shareholder Fir Tree Partners announced plans to urge management to pursue strategic alternatives to boost the shares. Fir Tree controls 18.5% of Ultra Petroleum’s shares outstanding, and has economic interest in 22.1% of the shares. “UPL is the most attractive natural gas company in the U.S. and trades at a substantial and unwarranted discount to its pure play comps,” said Fir Tree Managing Director Evan Lederman. “Its deep, low-cost inventory, significant resource growth potential and absence of throughput issues that plague its Northeast peers is fully unrecognized in its current share price.” Ultra Petroleum’s stock has lost 23% over the past three months through Friday, while the SPDR Energy Select Sector ETF has slipped 0.7% and the S&P 500 has gained 2.8%.

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Rolling Stone, the iconic music magazine, is being put up for sale, according to a New York Times report Sunday. Founder Jann Wenner is ready to give up control of the independent magazine, the Times reported, putting Wenner Media, which owns a majority stake in Rolling Stone, on the market. The move comes in response to financial difficulties, largely related to the decline in print advertising in recent years. Last year, Wenner Media sold a 48% stake to Singapore’s BandLab Technologies Ltd. Wenner has hired bankers to explore a sale, the Times reported, but no potential buyers have emerged yet. Wenner started the magazine in 1967 in San Francisco with music critic Ralph Gleason, and it made its mark in the 1970s with rollicking articles by the likes of Hunter S. Thompson, P.J. O’Rourke and Cameron Crowe. “I’ve enjoyed it for a long time,” Wenner told the Times, but selling is “just the smart thing to do.”

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