Saks Global is trying to offload a 49 % stake in New York City luxurious division retailer Bergdorf Goodman, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday, citing sources accustomed to the matter.
The information comes lower than a 12 months after Saks closed its acquisition of Neiman Marcus Group, which operated Bergdorf as a standalone location. Richard Baker, govt chairman of Saks Global, confirmed that the corporate is exploring a possible sale of a minority stake in Bergdorf Goodman. “This process is intended to unlock value for our stakeholders and de-lever our business,” he instructed the Journal.
Worth about $1 billion, the sale at present has 4 potential bidders, in accordance to the report, together with strategic buyers and Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds.
Since buying Neiman Marcus, Saks Global has been grappling with mounting liquidity pressures: heavy debt from the $2.7 billion deal, shrinking gross sales throughout the posh phase and strained vendor relations which have restricted stock circulate.
In August, Saks was in a position to restructure its debt, together with $600 million in new financing from lenders — a lifeline for making curiosity funds and vendor invoices. The $2.2 billion in bonds that Saks Global issued to assist finance the Neiman acquisition have plunged in worth since January — now buying and selling 17 cents on the greenback.
The potential Bergdorf deal wouldn’t embrace the constructing and actual property of the shop, simply its working firm, in accordance to the Journal.
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With Financing Push, Saks Global Looks to Buy Some Time
A deal to safe $500 million in new financing could push out a reckoning. But falling gross sales and looming funds to distributors and collectors proceed to canine the posh retailer’s post-merger imaginative and prescient.