Saks Global filed for bankruptcy protection late Tuesday, barely a year after consolidating Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, and Neiman Marcus, and it is entering court with both a leadership overhaul and a financing backstop intended to keep stores operating.
Saks Global said it finalized a $1.75 billion financing package and that stores would remain open for now, while the restructuring process aims to negotiate a debt deal with creditors or pursue a sale to avoid liquidation.
Saks Fifth Avenue, the retail arm of Saks Global, listed $1 billion to $10 billion in assets and $1 billion to $10 billion in liabilities.
The company said the package includes an immediate $1.0 billion cash infusion via a debtor-in-possession loan from an investor group, which Reuters reported was led by Pentwater Capital Management and Bracebridge Capital.
Saks Global also said $240 million would be available through an asset-backed loan from its asset-based lenders, and it expects access to $500 million of financing from the investor group after successfully exiting bankruptcy protection, which it said it expects later this year.
Court filings estimated 10,001 to 25,000 creditors, with luxury brands among unsecured claims, led by Chanel at about $136 million and Gucci owner Kering at about $60 million. LVMH was listed as an unsecured creditor at $26 million.
Operational stress showed up first in inventory flow: Saks Global struggled last year to pay vendors, vendors began withholding inventory, and the resulting supply chain disruption left the retailer with insufficient stock.
The liquidity crunch surfaced in capital markets on December 30, when Saks Global failed to make an interest payment of more than $100 million to bondholders, and it raised cash last month by selling the real estate of the Neiman Marcus Beverly Hills flagship for an undisclosed amount while also exploring a minority stake sale in Bergdorf Goodman.
In 2024, Richard Baker, via Canada’s Hudson’s Bay Co, took over Neiman Marcus and later spun off the US luxury assets to form Saks Global. The $2.7 billion deal was built on about $2.0 billion in debt financing plus equity contributions from investors including Amazon, Salesforce, and Authentic Brands, which the filing listed as equity investors.
Saks Global appointed former Neiman Marcus CEO Geoffroy van Raemdonck as CEO, replacing Baker, and added former Neiman Marcus executives Darcy Penick as chief commercial officer and Lana Todorovich as chief of global brand partnerships, signaling a management pivot toward merchandising, brand relationships, and vendor stabilization.
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