Kmart, Waban set to merge two units. (Builders Square and HomeBase units)(Brief Article)

NEW YORK -- Kmart Corp. has a deal on the table to combine its Builders Square unit with Waban Inc.'s HomeBase business and will take a $350 million to $400 million after-tax charge for 1996.

Waban says it has put on hold a plan, approved by the board last fall, to spin off its BJ's wholesale club business from HomeBase.

The combination would create a $4 billion home improvement giant and what Kmart called the world's largest home improvement company, with 250 stores in 25 states.

Under the proposal, Leonard Green & Partners, a Los Angeles-based private merchant banking firm ...

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