Sales & Marketing

NBA legend Magic Johnson is the top-rated athlete when it comes to the business side of corporate endorsements in a survey by sports marketing agency TSE Sports & Entertainment. TSE's first annual "AB" (Athlete Buiness) ratings are calculated by surveys from 213 marketing executives who use athletes for corporate purposes.

Kraft Foods Inc. announces that Jeri Finard, executive vice president and chief marketing officer (CMO), has decided to leave the company for personal reasons.

Cutter & Buck Inc., a designer and marketer of upscale golf and sportswear in the United States, signs a definitive agreement to be acquired by New Wave Group AB, a leader in the design and marketing of consumer products for the corporate promotional and consumer retail markets in Europe.

Limited Brands promotes Stuart Burgdoerfer to the role of CFO.

CDC Software, which offers industry-specific enterprise applications and business services, signs a definitive merger agreement with CRM solutions vendor Saratoga Systems.

Harp's Food launches a customer reward program driven by Pay By Touch.

French retailer Pinault-Printemps-Redoute (PPR) made a $7.07 billion (5.3 billion euro) bid to add German sportswear company Puma to its line-up of Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent iconic fashion brands.

Montana-based supermarket Reynold's Market deploys a new POS system from NCR.